#⌞her hands could hold a sword and a flower.⌝ aesthetics

[zykamiliah]

plucking leaves, flying flowers

hold on, is using the plucking leaves' technique as an offensive weapon something that original Shen Qingqiu already used, or was it something SY!Shen Qingqiu came up with!?

Cang Qiong Mountain Sect had a minor technique, “Plucking Leaves, Flying Flowers.” At a glance, it wasn’t very useful, just aesthetic and interesting. The novel had described how Luo Binghe used the technique to win the nth woman’s affections. As Shen Qingqiu had, since his arrival, been furiously reviewing various manuals, he had also recently seen a description of it.

He plucked a nearby leaf and channeled a touch of spiritual power into it. The first time, he channeled too much. The leaf couldn’t withstand his power and instantly split into several pieces. He succeeded the second time, held the leaf between his fingertips, and gently blew, letting go.

The leaf shot toward Ming Fan like an airborne knife(...)

No wonder they said that to an expert, even a flower or tree could be used to hurt people! But he hadn’t killed Ming Fan just now, right…? (Chapter 1: Scum)

that would explain why it took bingge by surprise when sqq attacked him with it in the extra! SY modified the technique!!!

(more quotes under the cut)

After a pause, [Ning Yingying] continued. “If you feel that the Shizun in the old days didn’t treat you well, then think back on the day you lost your jade pendant. Our shixiong inexplicably backed off all at once. You yourself knew there was something strange, right? No one else on Qing Jing Peak would turn leaves into weapons for the purpose of teaching a small lesson.” (Chapter 8: Death)

No one else, so this is something only SQQ has used, but does it mean that SJ never used that technique in the same way? I feel like SQQ would have mentioned it.

(shout out to nyy for noticing these at the time, though she's being a little bit unfair here because she didn't know had bad original sqq treated lbh)

he uses them again while he's in the mushroom body to trim SHL's nails (and really, he didn't think that technique would out him as SQQ? man has zero logical thinking when it comes to indirectly trying to make lbh's aledged love life easier)

She then raised her hand to examine it. Her five cinnabar-painted nails had been uniformly trimmed a noticeable length shorter.

It was only her nails, and it hadn’t hurt in the least, but Sha Hualing’s blood went instantly cold (...)

If someone lurking nearby could cut her nails with such ease, then they could just as effortlessly slice open her neck.

Shen Qingqiu was feeling much more relieved as he released a twig plucked clean of leaves. (Chapter 9: Borderlands)

after his sword it's his first go-to weapon when facing enemies such as tianlang-jun

WITH LIGHTNING SPEED, Shen Qingqiu grabbed a handful of leaves from a vine. He’d just charged into the cave with the rest when he heard a voice. (Chapter 21: Always Together)

i have to quote the part where he used them against bingge because it was soooo badass. there are so few moments when you can say sqq was honestly this badass, and this is one

At this moment, the only things above their heads were rustling twigs and leaves of bamboo, swaying and undulating in the wind. The original didn’t need to raise his head to tell that no threat awaited him above, and he smiled slightly. “Shizun, that sort of ploy is for dealing with little children. Trying to trick your disciple that way is a bit too condescending.”

You won’t look? All right, you brought this upon yourself! Shen Qingqiu formed a seal with his left hand and crisply snapped his fingers, his expression hardening.

The original was about to say something when a fluttering leaf streaked across his vision. The smile on his face froze. A fine trickle of blood slowly dripped down his cheek.

All around him, bamboo leaves fell more and more thickly, until the leisurely drifting foliage suddenly sped up, each one slicing toward where he stood in the center like the frigid, cutting wind from the east.

Plucking Leaves, Flying Flowers: Ultimate Version—Hundred Leaves, Thousand Flowers!

The original Luo Binghe flung out his palm, routing the dense assault of leafy razors, but for Shen Qingqiu, the entire forest was full of ammunition—thick with leaves that rained down like confetti, homing in on their target in hot pursuit. Though they appeared unassuming, with a single touch, they could carve flesh from bone. (Chapter 22: Bing-mei and Bing-ge’s Ultimate Showdown)

look at the "semi-otaku" saying the same of the technique in his mind, pfffff. "ultimate version" if he had screamed the name of the technique at bingge i wouldn't be surprised lol

aaaand i just checked the qijiu extra and it seems SJ never used that technique, so SY made it up :DDD

[bruciemilf]

on something something anon here :DD

-On regency au Jayara

YOU YOU YOU YOU!!!! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME, I'M GOING INSANE, I'M GOING CRAZY OVER THEM

I've always been a massive fan of royalty love stories for some unknown reason and it imagining these two with that aesthetic makes me go wild, one of my fav stories ever is Cinderella (1950), mainly because the aesthetic is just right!! (mostly it's because I love Cinderella, she deserves the word, my silly willy girl)

Jason hating Yara is funny as hell, this is princess swan on reverse because 1. Jason isn't a cunt who only appreciates women for their beauty, thus he doesn't need that lesson, and 2. They never truly stop hating each other.

their bickering starts loud and iconically, I mean, you can't not go down in history as a badass when you are Yara Flor, the girl who slapped Jason Wayne so hard he went flying through an entire ballroom and hit the biggest bush of flowers, Jason spent the rest of the week spitting flower petals, mostly at her.

Yara deserves to resemble Princess Jasmine (from Alladin) solely because instead of a tiger it's her horse who keeps scaring people away, despite his goofy face. Ironically enough, the moment Jerry and Jason meet they hit off immediately. (Martha was there with them when that happened and in the distance, she could hear Thomas screaming that was a sign he was correct!! they're made for each other)

But it's that delicate soft lonely feeling of silently dancing together in a ballroom that starts to change things (<- delusional Cinderella stan dumbassery)

Bruce always told Jason that if you want people to love you have to love them first, Love them harder, do it dearly, and do it because you care, not because you must. It's hard to understand someone so different as Yara, but he knows that uncomfortable when you have to practice dancing while people are watching, and you're bad at it. So he asks their teacher to let them dance together, alone, and he's whispering to Yara she's doing great because out of the two of them, he's the one who fell on his butt twice. (Yara learned that day it's very hard not to blush when there's a deep voice in your ear calmly telling you're good, you're great at this and you don't need to shy away. She wishes he would have said more)

my god, I have to draw them RIGHT NOW

(I don't want to make this ask bonkers long I'll come back for more later >:3)

YOU'RE GOING INSANE? IM GOING INSANE!!! oh anon how you've blessed me. Bewitched me body and soul.

Yara wasn't forged for grace; she's better with a sword than with a fork. She can't tame her reckless tongue, or her crude jokes, or her atrocious table manners.

She's not dainty and sharp and quietly powerful like one of Jason's paper fantasies;

There's admiration for them, a respect, a desire to see them succeed and flourish, especially when he talks of them with so much passion and fire, but that'll never be her.

She's always been too much; Too loud, too hot headed, too opinionated, too strong-headed, too much like Her to be anything even close to good. She's not poetry.

She's flesh and attitude and stubbornness and she knows, like a truth for the ages, that Jason Todd wouldn't marry her if Cupid shot him twice.

But when they dance together, when big hands carve a perfect hold on her hips, when clever fingers mold her frame almost possessively, Yara thinks, for someone that can't stand her, he sure doesn't touch her like it.

For someone that can't stand her, he's so quick to her side when another lord makes a flirty comment to her.

He's quick to say "disrespect my wife again, and I'll show you war" when lord Luthor won't take her strategic advice because she's young and has no cock for him to measure with.

"Do you think I'd have a bigger cock than him thought?"

Jason braids her hair (he's the only one allowed to touch it) and doesn't even need a second, "Of course"

But is she better? Is she above loudly correcting someone when they say poetry and writing are futile skills and Jason's the one wayne man who won't amount to anything? When she bites his neck so the next time high ladies have something to look at? When she defends his honor? No. Yara isnt

In conclusion; They're idiots in love your honor

[lwiamatka-a]

               ‘ no matter what anyone says or does, my task is to be emerald, my color undiminished. ‘

[lionorsa-a]

                     “ they call her the lioness of cintra,                             and not without good reason. “

joely richardson as book-lore appropriate queen calanthe. personals do not reblog.

[lwiamatka-a]

@munadaria / @kaedwenistout / @neoinean

[bleachbleachbleach]

Top 5 Zanpakutou

@crysuzumushi wanted to know about my top 5 Zanpakutou (I will tag @ippoddity​ to answer if she has time, but she’s busy this week!). I actually have a post in drafts talking about my fave Zanpakutou filler arc manifestations that I started in like... May, and never actually wrote. But! For actual Zanpakutou... hm! That’s a good question. I feel like it’s one I’ll just list five for and then realize I’ve forgotten about the 95 other, better answers.

Based on the ways their powers manifest (and this is where I show my brain weakness where I only remember things about my faves and I’ve completely forgotten other people with much cooler swords), I really like the weirdo swords.

Like, Kyouka Suigetsu? Holy shit, man. And how can you go wrong with illusions and water motifs? Sometimes I think about like, how do you train something like that? Or even discover the nature of such a power? But of course the answer is that it takes a certain type of person--a certain type of soul. And there’s only one person Kyouka Suigetsu could ever belong to.

Ruri’iro kujaku? Potentially terrifying. I love it. I also want to say Benihime, specifically for bankai (and the grotesque process of having forced its achivement), but my non-existent memory of 80% of TYBW won’t allow me to speak on that too much.

Hyourinmaru is not a weirdo sword, but he goes here, anyway, because he’s the only one I’ve really thought about as an entity (vs. an ability or an aesthetic). I have too many Hyourinmaru thoughts for this post, so I’ll have to remember to do them separately, but I think he probably is a weirdo sword. I think Hitsugaya goes out of his way to be as straightforward as possible, and then fails to be, and I think Hyourinmaru is like that, too. Since this post has mostly been about abilities, an example is like--Hyourinmaru’s powers seem fairly straightforward in that it’s ice, and then in bankai it’s more ice. It’s extremely visual. Like, what is Hyourinmaru? Welp, a dragon. Look, wings! There’s even giant timer flowers that exist... outside his user’s field of vision. (Hitsugaya can definitely feel them regardless of whether he can see them, but he fact remains that they are!! giant!!) Hyourinmaru’s powers feel straightforward and almost ponderous, because I swear half the time Hitsugaya prefaces his explanations of various attacks with “this takes a long time to set up, but...” 

But then, a lot of it isn’t really that straightforward. The ice double that Hitsugaya uses against Halibel bleeds, which... that’s fuckin’ weird. Ice that bleeds. Like, ‘Mayuri would be into it’ weird. (And I can’t help but wonder if he was inspired by Aizen’s KO in Soul Society arc, or Urahara with his inflatable gigai in the Advance team arc.) Which gets you to thinking about the ways ice-as-weapon is distinct from, say, some other sharp thing used as a projectile, and all of it’s a little weird. Ice is dangerous to a body because of what it can do to cell walls, to homeostatic processes. To have the heat skimmed from your skin is fatal more often than an encounter with an icicle, even if it’s the icicle you’re looking at.

Also, I love the like, 4-second scene at the start of the Zanpakutou Rebellion arc where Hitsugaya holds his hand out and treats Hyourinmaru like a horse. (Or I guess, he treats him like a dragon. If Hitsugaya ever encountered any horses, he’d probably treat those like dragons, too.) I think it’s adorable and I hope Hyourinmaru gets fed apples.

I also love Sode no Shirayuki, because I like the idea of a series of dances, and I think her bankai is fascinating (and, as Byakuya says, beautiful). Rukia’s recitation of her various shikai forms is also basically ASMR fodder to me.

Similarly, I love Komamura’s zanpakutou, but specifically because of the way he says the name of his bankai. Say it with me now: Kokujou Tengen Myoooooooooo!!! Make that my ringtone, please. 

I also feel like Zabimaru deserves a shoutout, because he’s one of the few we’ve seen manifested in manga canon, and I really love his scene with Renji in the Soul Society arc. And also because movie!Renji has an insatiable need for people to RIDE THE SNEK, and what is better than the Zabimaru Express? Nothing is better than the Zabimaru express.

--

Fuck, I forgot about Senbonzakura!!! Welp, this is already too long, but Senbonzakura. A+ sword. Great times. Sharp edges. Beautiful fragrance. Would purchase again.

[oreocheesecakeshake]

Shen yuan Appreciation Post

·      He’s a nerd and a proud nerd at that .When he woke up in Shen Yuan’s body ,his reaction wasn’t the typical “are you guys filming a movie?” and what not .Its something that he’d decided beforehand ,so clearly he had fantasized about being part of the fictional world before. Relatable ,eh?

o   .The way he knows all those monsters and proudly gives lectures about them –what.a.dork. :D.

o   Also ,I think he called himself a semi-otaku at some point of the book. Personally ,I think he’s a complete otaku but okay .

·       He’s smart ,well not book smart . we all remember that glorious moment when he quite spiritedly went for the easy mode on the mission ,he had no qualms about it either which I really appreciate .Why go for the hard way when you have an easy way out ?why so much unnecessary angst ?

o   All those times when he indirectly interfered with the story with all those loopholes he had found within the system-Bargaining and reason with the system as to how he wasn’t OOC .

o   My favorite part is when he soothes Luo Binghe after scapegoating him in carefully picked words “Then this master will also tell you .Even if something does happen nothing will happen to you.”

o   His otaku knowledge on monsters and how he applies it .

·       His is easy –going ,content with how things are and makes do with what he has .While I love rooting for the protagonist as goes about his endeavors with the goal to “catch ‘em all” or works his way to the tap overcoming obstacle-after-obstacle repeatedly breaking his limbs in the process *cough*Izuku Midoriya *cough*.Shen Yuan isn’t about all that ,infact he is quite baffled with shen qingui for going  out of his way to sabotage Luo Binghe out of envy

o   .But that’s the fact, isn’t it? –he isn’t the protagonist ,he is a millennial ,an otaku thrown into the fictional world where Luo Binghe is the protagonist –he can take care of the passionate chase to the top, the dramatic monolouges,the angst ,shen yuan is fine sitting back –out of the spotlight.

o   Maybe it was a design keeping in mind that Shen Yuan will have to take up the identity of Shen Qingui ,Shen Yuan’s mild temperament and mild mannerisms probably makes it easier for him to imitate Shen Yuan’s expressions contrary to someone who’s more extreme in his temperament

·       His id is cucumber bro .

·       He is the physical manifestation of ‘fake it till you make it ‘ or ‘ I might seem sorted but I screaming in my head’ which is such a typical millennial move and can’t we all relate ?.I love how he -adorned in his robes ,a sword hanging at his left side and right hand holding a fan seems like a refined ,ethereal man while internally he’s cursing the author or having a banter with the system .Honestly ,I love his sarcasm laced inner dialogue .I would totally read  about second generation rich Shen Yuan going about his very  mundane everyday life.

·       He’s Kind and he doesn’t even know it . When the other characters shower him with appreciation or acknowledge him –he awkwardly tries to change the subject as he thinks that if they were to know what his devices really were, they wouldn’t think so.He’s under the impression that he’s some evil schemer but he’s not.I don’t think he can be evil if he wanted to be .Most of his actions towards Luo Binghe aren’t deliberate but are reflex responses .He’s well aware of the ‘protagonist’s halo ‘ and has witnessed it (and read about it )many times –remember that time when the whole  fucking ceiling fell in because binghe was in danger ??He intervenes when Binghe was getting bullied by using the “plucked leaves flying flowers technique” ,got stabbed while shielding his body, feels personally offended when Binghe is getting humiliated and those head pats are definitely not necessary –they were unconscious actions coming from  and his kindness just doesn’t extend to Luo Binghe , he feels moved by Yue Qingyuan’s brotherly affections ,even condemns the original character for being able to betray such a person, he even worries for Ming Fang wishing that he’d stop acting in such a brash manner , he frequently worries for the I.Q of the females within the novel (Ning Yingying’s character development was amazing ,though ).

o   Most of all he even found it in himself to be courteous to Que Haitang –keeping in mind that the original character had done her wrong. The natural response of a person when accused for something they did not do is get angry . He was ready to shoulder the original characters wrongdoings and that’s something ,alright .His ‘evil devices ‘consisted of prodding and poking Liu Qingqi.Because his little acts of kindness are such an instinct for him ,he doesn’t even realize that he is kind.

·       He both owned the character of Shen Qingqui and made it his own as well :

o   He both dressed and adopted  the old Shen Qingqui’s mannerisms keeping his face cold ,giving out slight nods as a form of greeting but his slight smiles were his .When Luo Binghe happened to glance upon his person when a laugh slipped out from his lips ,he described him having “ eyes like stars , a wide smile ,a greeting filled with laughter ‘. The original Shen Qingqui was incapable of such an emotion . The warmth  and affection of Shen Yuan made Shen Qingqui more beautiful somehow .

o   Although , he isn’t as ambitious as the former SQ , he did what must be done for survival. He did inherit the powers and spiritual energy of SQ but it was like he was handed down some contraption without a manual telling how to use it .He went into seclusion at the spirit caves of Qiong Ding Peak and he devoted himself to months of cultivation until he could freely use his spirit power .

o   His book nerd rants about monsters were his own ,his will to protect his sect.The relationships he built up with people were solely his own, the original SQ  was filled upto the brim with hatred and he could never appreciate them .

·       Shen Qingqui and his fan .An aesthetic .That iconic moment when he fought the Sha Hualing’s demon army –

“…..It was particularly so for Shen Qingqiu: his ease of movement as his sword whirled into afterimages of sword light in the air all while shaking his fan leisurely, every seven steps giving rise to a poem to send forth, this sort of stunning style!”

 . i was supposed to be writing my legal research paper but somehow I ended up writing this :/

[spiritmaiden23]

FIVE AESTHETICS TAG

EMOTIONS  /  FEELINGS

Optimism.  --  After everything that happened, you manage to cling to your faith. Your optimism shines brightest when placed in others. You unquestionably think the world of them, of him most of all. Everyone has the potential to do their best! Sometimes, they need a little push, but that's something you provide a little too eagerly.

Spirited.  --  You're someone who knows how to find the fun in things. You're a natural lighthearted, and easy-going sort of person. For the most part, that is, because, whenever you get serious, all of those previous traits go out the window. However, despite that, you're always happy to share your joy with others and providing said joy through various means. And teasing others can be pretty fun too, so sometimes you can be a little mischievous! But it's all in good fun, you promise! Just be careful because, sometimes, your positive energy may not rub off too well on others. 

Emotional.  --  Someone who wears their passionate heart on their sleeve. Well tuned with your passions, you're empathetic to a fault. There's nothing too wrong with that, but sometimes you can be a slave to your emotions, not taking much time to step back for a moment. Yet, you have displayed growth in this after your awakening, thanks to a mentor and friend.

Responsible.  --  Responsible is your middle name! You're a pretty reliable person due to how dedicated you are to completing whatever tasks you have at hand. One might say you can be a little too committed, but you never saw anything wrong with that. You will keep whatever promise you can make and see things through. After all, you carried out the goddess' mission to the very end, it's all over now.

Wise.  --  In the end, however, wisdom runs through your veins. While intelligent enough to the point where you will devour any texts you may get your hands on, you carry a deep understanding of the world. Though a bit more emotional, logic will persist in the end, and you have learned to fall back onto wisdom more than ever. Certain choices hurt so much, but you know this to be the right one no matter how much pain it may cause to you and others around you. 

COLORS

Pink.  --  An adorable color you've been fond of since your youth! You have a weakness for all shades. It's not a stretch to say you love any bright colors the warmth of them all is appealing to you. 

White.  --  The color that has been with you throughout both lives. You feel a little conflicted about this color, you admire its purity. But. It's stifling in a sense where the color reminds you of your past life and your duties. 

Lavender.  --  This color is more bearable than white. There's a soothing sense to it, and you feel calm and assured. 

Green.  --  It should be pretty clear why you have an attachment to this color, no? The surface greeted you with warm greenery, the goddess of courage proudly wore this color, the spring comes painting the world in this color, and your dear friend was simply made for this color. It evokes bravery to you, strange as that may sound to others. 

Blue.  --  Blue skies still hang over you as you stand on the earth. The stretch of blue has always been a constant in your life, and now you can't imagine your life without it. And, during your long sleep, his blue eyes were all that you saw within your fleeting dreams.

SCENTS

Earth.  --  You fell in love with nature and everything it'd provided for you, including the scents. While fresh air is always refreshing, you adore the smell of Faron Woods the most. Namely during springtime! 

Cotton.  --  A funny choice, huh? But it's something you worked around for who knows how long now. The nights spent sewing or knitting away were comforting moments for you. 

Books.  --  Some may call you a bookworm but, in your humble opinion, there's nothing better than the smell of fresh pages, thank you very much! Although you do carry a soft spot for more ancient pages too. 

Floral.  --  You don't ask a mother to pick her favorite child, so how can anyone ask for you to choose a favorite flower when you adore each scent?! They're so comforting, each scent unique as the flower itself. Sometimes, you'll collect a few from Faron Woods and create a nice little bouquet. Filling your home with a floral scent all while brightening up the place.

Leather and iron.  --  It... uh, it sounds unique. Some might even call it strange, but the smell brings you back to the days where you trained to become a knight alongside classmates and your dear friend. 

CLOTHING

Ribbons.  --  You have a pretty fun way of putting ribbons in your hair! Rather than a simple bow, you like to wrap various ones around your hair framing your face and low ponytail or even wrap it around with other hair styles like braids! Sometimes, you'll put it around like a headband, and a little bow. Hey! You like to switch things up a bit!

Bracelets and necklaces.  --  Such cute accessories you love which can go with almost any outfit you decided to wear that day! Sometimes, you find yourself fiddling with them, but you'll try to wear one or two or more every day! Yet, there's only one bracelet that you cherish more than anything. A lavender set, where you gave one half to your friend. Yet, she'd returned it to you. And you didn't even get to thank her face to face for everything that she has done. You don't have earrings, strange... 

Dresses and skirts. -- What can you say? You have a fondness for those articles of clothing. Of course, because you're pretty active and always running around the place, leggings are also part of your ensemble, but you tend to wear skirts that come to your shins which helps with...!

Boots.  --  Showing off your nice leather boots, of course! You prefer boots above all other shoes, they're perfect for travel, and very comfortable too. The sandals you wore while traveling around the surface were nice, but boots would've been an ideal choice. 

Belts and sashes.  --  A nice way to finish off your outfits! You're a girl who loves to dress cute, and dress to impress more yourself, and perhaps a certain hero. Once, you wore the sailcloth around your shoulders, you'd like to try doing something like that again.

OBJECTS

Books and scrolls.  --  Since you were young, you always found yourself spending nights in your father's archives reading whatever you could. Your room's filled with so many books it can leave someone's head spinning. Whether fictional novels, textbooks, historical books, etc. You loved to read them all, the sky's the limit!

Harp.  --  It's a lovely instrument, and you prefer to hear the hero play it more than yourself. It sounds more enchanting whenever he plays it. You are aware its your bias staining your views.

Yarn, knitting needles, and sewing supplies.  --  It's a past time you adore, even to this day. Without your handy little kit, you wouldn't be able to make any of the incredible stuff you had!

Strange green doll.  --   You saw him in a dream and saw the little guy pop in various texts as well. A man dressed in green who believed himself to be a fairy. Or chosen by the fairies? You can't exactly remember the details, but he was apparently a charm for safe travels and good fortune. It couldn't help to find a few rupees here and there. You're starting to think that perhaps you should make more of this fella for friends...

Wooden Indigo carving.  --  A wood carving of your beloved loft wing made by your dear friend. It was one of the first items you took when moving down to the surface! Whenever you would look at it, you can't hide the glee that makes your heart flutter. Your friend is amazing in everything, isn't he?! You're pretty proud of that fact.

(bonus) Master sword. -- It's not something you own, nor do you have any plans to own the sword. But she's someone who you hold dear to your heart. Without the spirit inside of the sword forged by your hero, you couldn't even imagine how things would've turned out. Fi was a companion that your friend bonded with during his search for you. You're grateful for how Fi helped him out. 

VICES  /  BAD HABITS

Stubborn.  --  You may call it tenacious and see nothing wrong with it, but others will call it as it is: stubbornness. Once you have your mind set on something, there's no stopping you. At times, this can get you into deep trouble.  

Worrywart.  --  You transform into a different person when it comes to this! You can be nosy and interfere with whatever business someone may have and step on in without input. It does not help that you tend to jump the gun. You're a restless busybody, many would say. It comes from compassion and concern, but it can annoy or anger certain people. While the damage is done, you are pretty remorseful of the fact and try to make up for it however you can.

Overly encouraging/positive.  --  It somewhat goes hand in hand with your worrywart tendencies. It's because you see the best in everyone that drives you to be a busybody in the first place. That said, while a positive attitude isn't always bad, it can across different to someone depending on the time and situation. You can make naive choices and even come across as a bit insensitive whenever your attempts at cheering up others may not translate well. 

Temper.  --  Not something that pops up very often, but there are chances of it nevertheless depending on how wronged you feel or if someone were to do something you don't agree with. Bullying is a big one for you. You don't exactly hold grudges, as your anger is pretty short-lived, sadly not many people take your ire seriously either. It's something you can't hope to understand why. You tend to scold people more than anything. 

Self-sacrificing.  --  Oh dear, it plays into how responsible you are to a fault. You are not afraid to give up your all if it means saving everyone. You tend to keep your intentions a secret and run off on your own to finish the job. Placing you in great danger since no one's around to help. Not that you intend to have anyone help you, it's something you want to do with your own hands. You love too much. You care too much. You are willing to do anything to protect the lands and people in it, loved ones and him. Ah... you have died because of this... twice. But, it seems like this part of you will never go away, huh?.

BODY LANGUAGE

A bright smile on your face, her pink cheeks becoming darker! You're full of good cheer and very expressive. Sometimes, you'll even do that encouraging fist pump! It's easy to read your mind since your face is an open book. While your soft giggles are sometimes hidden behind your hand, you're someone who likes to laugh aloud. Towards the one you like, you're not afraid to lean forward just a tad bit. Sometimes, you'll push someone off of some high place. 

Laced hands and a gaze filled with concern. You'll press your lips as you try to figure out just how to ease your said concern. Until resolve enters your gaze, sometimes some might take that as not being a good thing.

You liked to hug the goddess harp close to your chest during your journey. Sometimes, you still do this whenever you go off with it to pray to the gods. It's a bit of a comfort thing and something you wished to protect. At the time, you couldn't understand why but now...

Holding someone's hands, hugging, whatever other contact you're not shy about showing skin ship towards friends and loved ones. It's your way of showing, shoot, everything! 

Your hand on your hip is never a good sign when it comes to you. Your eyes are usually narrowed here, and once you open your mouth this is when you start your lecture. Although sometimes, this position can just be you taking charge too. 

Hands covering your face as tears roll down your cheeks. You're smiling, though, because it's finally all over. You save your tears until the very end. Or try, telling your best friend of your plans did have you cry a bit. 

AESTHETICS

Birds, free as can be, flying off into the distance. Whether loftwings or the smaller birds found on the surface, it's a sight that you'll never grow tired of.

Streaming rivers and comforting holy springs. Water dripping from golden hair and your fingertips. You have an affinity for water, something tied closely with the goddess of wisdom. 

Gold spilling from your hands, beautiful, warm gold. The gold of the goddess harp. The gold of the triforce. It's a lovely power, tied to the divine. Something you're both a part of yet not. 

Leaves dancing with the morning wind, grass with dew on them, the early sun vanquishing the night air in that soft glow. another great day is ahead! so you're up with the world, now time to wake up a certain sleepyhead!

tagged by: @personnages​ (thank you my goodness this was fun!) tagging: whoever hasn’t been tagged yet! ​

[lwiamatka-a]

@utternocries

Moodboard for a forbidden romance between a princess and a castle guard.

Requested by Anon

[mahou-furbies]

I actually really liked those insight posts about Precure brooches, items, and fairies. I was wondering if you could do one about their weapons?

The Precure rankings take quite a lot of time to write so it’s nice that someone reads them!

But yes, the weapons. I haven’t made it a secret that I dislike the toy ad-like weapon designs so I don’t really care for many of these (common complaints: looks ugly and cheap, too much pink even for non-pink characters, rainbow buttons where they don’t belong, buttons or lights that don’t seem to serve any purpose, too much detail), but reading about me complaining about that for dozens of paragraphs probably wouldn’t be very fun. So I won’t put that everywhere and this will be more about judging the items in relation to each other than how they’d fare against all fantasy item designs I know.

Especially with the season I haven’t seen it was a bit bothersome to see if an item was weapon or not, so I just made some quick judgements. I’ll do the other items that aren’t in this or the other precure item posts later.

Futari wa Precure

Not a huge fan of these kind of items where the design philosophy seems to have been “it doesn’t have to resemble a weapon in any way, a pink plastic thing with buttons will do”. I’m not against all weapons looking incredibly impractical (like I love Mew Ichigo’s Strawberry Bell) but here these just look incredibly bland and cynical to me (I mean cynical in a different way than me). 

I was going to be more generous with this since I thought it was a bow and bows are always elegant weapons and I’m always happy to have those regardless of how dumb the design looks, but reading the wiki I guess this is a baton instead. Boo! Still I like how it can be both a heart and also be bent open. The design makes me think of a baby toy though with all the round corners.

Futari wa Precure Splash Star

I like how the girls wear their items differently and the way the heart is framed is nice. But apart from that I don’t find these particularly aesthetically appealing, and they also look a bit too busy compared to the rest of the costume. Busy item designs are less of a problem if its a handheld item that’s clearly not a part of the base design, but when the characters are supposed to wear the item it often looks very out of place, as if it was just tacked on because the marketing team demanded it. Okay I’ll stop with this now

Not pictured: the versions with a star instead of heart, but they look otherwise the same and I like the heart better.

Yes! Precure 5

We now reach weapons I actually like! They’re pleasantly simple without unnecessary buttons everywhere, but with the tulip-like design with the cute little swirl there’s actually some point to it and it’s not just haphazardly placed buttons and lights and jewels. And as a fan of customisation I really like how everyone has their own take on the item. The pink girl apparently doesn’t feel the need to fit the theme though and hers is a lot less interesting to me, but at least it can sort of look like a flower (more like a butterfly though) so it’s not completely out of place.

Laser swors? That is a good idea. The flower is pretty too but I’d prefer it if it was a bit smaller, now it looks a bit unbalanced, and also why does everyone have to have a pink one again? Meanwhile the powerup version looks a lot more cheap, busy and gaudy.

Not a fan of this one, it feels like a portable lottery wheel, which would be a fun idea if Milky Rose had to work around with an item that gives her random powers, but I’m guessing that’s not the case. Another option would be that she’d use this to cut pizza. The blue roses and purple handle would make for a pleasant colour scheme, but then there’s the rainbow mini roses which break that, I think this would look more appealing if the roses were detachable and she’d attach the one she wants to use, but I guess the spinning wheel is supposed to be the Thing here.

Fresh Precure!

Pretty standard magical girl wands, white with obligatory pink for everyone and rainbow lights. At least everyone gets a crystal thingy at the tip in their own colour and card suit and it’s nice that they use their items differently (though Berry this is not a sword no matter how you try to slice it) but otherwise I’m not really interested.

Nice colours and the wing is cute, and I actually like the bizarre idea here. Like you could add power to the harp with the heart while playing it, or attach different attacks or whatever. But this exemplifies my main issue with the Precure items: okay, you can’t sell an actual harp with actual strings to kids so you sell this instead, ok. But why does the item in the show have to be a 1:1 replica? Disney can sell Elsa’s castle legos or inaccurate cheap-looking dolls but the counterparts in the movies look perfectly serviceable, so why can’t Passion have actual strings in her harp instead of these huge led lights?

Heartcatch Precure!

I like the metallic or glassy sheen at least in this shot and the shape of the handle. What I don’t like is the middle heavy design, I’d rather have the rainbow thing in the middle (which I’d prefer not be rainbow) either be smaller and moved to the tip, or the end part being longer so it’d look a bit like a sword.

This one is rather basic, like it’s just a circle with hearts around it. But at least it doesn’t do anything stupid and the colour palette checks out.

Suite Precure

I like the idea of being able to split the item in two but especially Rhythm’s looks a bit silly when it’s not in two parts, like now it’s not a baton or staff or really anything I could describe. But somehow I still like Melody and Rhythm’s items, at least they have consistent colour schemes and despite initially looking very different actually use the same base so that’s nice customisation. But how come the pink girl didn’t get the more ornate one? The guitar looks more on the cheap side, this is a toy guitar, not a magic guitar. And are those multicoloured buttons I spy again? But thanks to the more calm colour palette it’s not the worst toy guitar ever at least.

Smile Precure!

My first impression on this was “wow this is so dumb”, but the horse’s sleeping eye with the glamorous eyelashes makes it loop back to awesome. This is girly fairy tale magical girl design cranked up to eleven and I can only marvel the boldness. However like with the Heartcatch wand this one feels a bit unbalanced, the bottom and middle are pretty big so I’d prefer if the “blade” part was a bit longer and again the rainbow hears feel unnecessary.

Based on design alone this is a contender for my least favourite battle item, but I’ll have to hold my full judgement until I see it in action. But this has it all, there’s obligatory pink and rainbow, overdesigned, looks very cheap and gaudy. 

Doki Doki! Precure

This is some seriously extreme lipstick. I guess this is a serviceable design if you want to make a lipstick based weapon, it’d probably not look very impressive if it was regular size. I like the twist-able red jewel, and the fact  that while she can use different lipstick colours, the item sticks to just red and yellow.

Here we have the collapsible bow I was hoping we’d get with Shiny Luminous. Apart from the obligatory pink palette for everyone I really like these, again bow makes for a great weapon, and I also like its collapsed form, that thing just invites you to press a button and have it open up. Though holding the bow looks kind of awkward. And is this the largest Precure weapon we have? Where are the huge staffs?

For starters, I find there’s something absolutely hilarious about the name “Magical Lovely Pad”. Story-wise it has the baggage of belonging to an attack where the other characters send their power to Mana (of course) so she can take all the spotlight, but as far as the design goes I guess it’s alright for a magical tablet. And I thought this was one of the items where it just floats in the air awkwardly but apparently the Cures do hold it in their hands, so points for that.

The harp is kind of silly looking but i have to commend it for at least having the strings not be thick as a straw.

Happiness Charge Precure!

A pretty straightforward item, nice colour palette and the heart ribbon things at the ends are the same as the bracelet and resemble the brooch too so it’s consistent with the reset of the items in the season. I also like how it can be split into maracas too.

I think the idea of a star-shaped tambourine is perfectly serviceable, but this one just looks kind of cheap, like we’re in the baby chew toy category again. But I feel this could be salvaged if you gave it a more harmonious colour palette, made the heart look more like a crystal and the jingles metal (i.e. not so plastic-y).

This one always felt hilarious in that you have a grown man character showing interest in this thing. But as a weapon it’s one of my least favourites. The makeup pens that come with this are fine I guess (though the makeup the girls put on themselves looks like the “this character doesn’t know how to use makeup” kind) but the main item is very unappealing to me. I guess it boils down to the fact that this kind of items feel more like that the Cures just push a button and then the item does its magic light blast of goodness and love on its own, while with the wands and musical instruments and such the Cures feel more like they’re actively using the weapon.

Go! Princess Precure!

An alright wand, even if the tip feels a bit too heavy. The mostly white-and-goldd design is a lot more preferable to the usual pink, the dress up keys get to take a part, and the tip looks a bit like a crown.

This is in the same category as Passion’s harp, nice colour palette and a musical instruments make for a great magical girl weapon in theory, but here the result is just too cheap and toylike. No way I can imagine a violin sound coming out of this, the only thing I hear is two pieces of plastic rubbing together.

This is it, the worst item. Magical girl weapons don’t all need to resemble actual weapons, but there are some limits to how far you should go. Out of all the Precure items this feels the most like the toy department just said “we want to sell a toy castle, so have the main characters play with one in every episode after its introduction”. Can’t they use a less awkward item to conjure this castle around them and sell a miniature version of that as a dollhouse or something?

As a toy this is fine, like I had a similar little castle (it was semi-transparent blue and you could turn on a pink light in it) and sure I could imagine placing some Pikachu toys on it and have them dance, but as a weapon in a story I hate it. 

Mahou Tsukai Precure!

These look pretty nondescript and forgettable. At least they don’t have multicoloured beads running down the staff, but there’s not much to talk about.

This one is cute but kind of basic too; the gold butterfly feels a bit unnecessary but if you remove it the whole thing would be pretty bland. Still, there’s nothing overly stupid and I like that the flower bud doesn’t miss the obvious that it should open in an attack.

Kira Kira Precure A La Mode

This one is a bit too bulky, but at least it makes it stand out a bit more. It also helps the item not look so unbalanced with the huge glass (?) ball in the middle. And it’s nice how you can see the Kira Kiraru in it; it makes the item feel more real when you get to see the resource it uses. The cream like decorations are cute and appropriate and the walking cane shape reminds me of the candy filled plastic canes I used to get from the summer market as a kid.

I got nothing on this, it’s another magical girl wand that doesn’t particularly stand out in any way. At least the rainbow buttons fit the theme this time?

Google tells me it’s an actual product, but to me ‘creamer’ still sounds like a Wrong kind of name to use in a kids’ show. That aside the idea of piping cream on the enemy is fun, but I don’t think they do that in the attack... But for the potential I like the design; unsurprisingly I’d remove the multicoloured decorations on the handle but otherwise it’s alright.

Hugtto! Precure

This one feels really generic, white staff with pink accents and rainbow jewel thingies. Not interested, next!

These look a bit too bulky for my taste, I think they’d look better if the neck was longer. The colours are also a bit too gaudy for my taste (and the guitar totally disappears in Macherie’s dress), though in their defense in better pictures you can see they have more white so the result isn’t quite so stuffy. But still magical guitars make for a good weapon for idol themed characters.

This feels really generic, like it’s just a bunch of hearts glued together. Next!

Star Twinkle Precure

The wand is pretty basic, but there’s something in its simpleness that I like. If you removed the pink and purple crown thingy it would be better, like only neutral white and gold, and everyone’s theme colours equally in the shooting star (or I guess the star is also yellow for Soleil but it still feels more neutral than the usual pink). With its many colours and short tail the shooting star feels like something from a baby nursery but I guess if the tail was longer it’d start feeling more like a sickle.

As for the prefume bottle, I don’t find the design particularly attractive, and it also feels like yet another case where pink has been shoehorned in. And the little ribbon feels very unnecessary.

Healin’ Good Precure

My criticism on Passion’s harp also applies here, and this time I also find the overall design less appealing with several of the details feeling a bit tacked on.

(the wands have already been bitched at in the henshin item post)

[ikeservant]

Hello!!! Hope you are well! Uwu can I get some hc for Kenshin, Ieyasu, Hideyoshi, and Masamune with an Mc who is a photographer? (Lol idk how the battery and stuff will survive but oh well😂😂) thank you have a great day!

Intro: Mc is a photographer who just got done doing a photoshoot with her friends for practice, bringing both her regular good camera and her cute polaroid with some extra packets of its lil photo cards. She sees Sasuke at the shrine, wormhole, and BOOM! Sengoku time! Sasuke meets up with her and gives her a makeshift charger with some oranges, salt, and sanded copper (idk how science works but each of these things could probably be mixed with other stuff to make currents to conduct and charge stuff. It just WORKS.)

Kenshin: “What weaponry is this?” “A camera. It shoots stuff, but not in the way you think.” Mc explained how the camera worked, showing him the pictures she’s taken in the past. Is impressed with how it can capture a moment forever in a world where life is fleeting. When he expressed this, mc got an idea. “Just sit still and smile.” Seeing mc excited to take a picture made him feel warm and fuzzy so of course a nice smile would be in order. After a click of the polaroid camera, a small square came out. It took a little bit for him to notice that the image of him smiling was developing. “Now I can carry this with me wherever I go and see your smile even when you’re off in war.” He IMMEDIATELY snatched the polaroid camera and demanded/asked mc to smile so he could do the same and always have that image of her smiling captured in time, giving him reassurance that the memory of her smiling was consistent in the ever-changing world of war. If mc didn’t keep a close watch over him, he’d probably use the rest of her stack of film on taking pics of her so he could admire all the moments of her.

Ieyasu: When Ieyasu first introduced mc to Wasabi, mc was determined to capture a beautiful image of the cute deer in the courtyard setting. Ieyasu was nervous at first when mc brought it, afraid she was going to do something weird/harmful to his baby deer, but mc realized how odd a camera must look to someone in the 1500s (duh), and showed/explained how photography works and uses her good camera to shoot a pic of Wasabi sniffing flowers in front of the beautiful sunset. He was in shock that beautiful image was captured in an instant. “Does that image just stay in the camera?” “It can unless I go somewhere to develop the pictures, but I can’t do that here. I DO have this though! Say cheese!” Mc whipped around with her polaroid, clicking it as Ieyasu looked both surprised and flustered. As the film came out and began developing, showing his candid stunned face, mc had to run and hide it before Ieyasu could snatch it out of her hand out of embarrassment. He’s super camera shy so the only other pic she was able to get was him feeding Wasabi. “This isn’t fair.” “What? You want to take a picture of me with Wasabi?””…” Reading his mind that he wanted a pic of his love too, she let him take/keep a few pics of her and Wasabi and also some of just her, including a goofy photo that makes him smile and go “Look at this photograph. Every time I see it makes me laugh.”(Nickelback reference). Keeps them in a hidden drawer but when going to battle/going away for a while he secretly brings a photo of mc and tucks it in his clothes so it feels like she’s actually with him and gives him hope and light.

Hideyoshi: When he finally realized mc was NOT going to kill Nobunaga, he decided to go to her to apologize. When he entered however, he saw mc fiddling with a mysterious box with a weird circle on it, making him worried it was a sniper weapon for assassination. “HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, MISSY!” Mc about dropped her precious camera and became furious at HIM, causing him to go into shock. She sat him down and told him about cameras and how they work. He was still confused, but he thought it was very neat how it could capture and preserve a scene in time. He then remembered why he came there to apologize. As forgiveness, mc bestowed on him the beauty that was a polaroid picture of Nobunaga (Hidemama was #blessed). Likes seeing the sights that mc takes pictures of but is embarrassed when she takes pics of him. He decides to try his hand at photography, which at first he looked like a clueless dad with his thumb on the lens taking blurry photos. But, like his tea ceremony skills, he became quite steadyhanded and skilled, making mc lowkey jealous but also intrigued and excited what he finds photo-worthy and his vision. Would love a polaroid photo of mc and would put it on a stand next to his bed so when he’s not with her he can still be blessed by an image of her face.

Masamune: Mc was going through her camera memory when Masamune barged into her room, sword at her neck asking if she was from the future. Instead of being scared, mc was MAD that she almost deleted an important photo of her friends and lectured him on why this camera is important and why he shouldn’t be horsing around while she’s using it. He put his swords away and decided by the camera alone that she is definitely from the future. He would be intrigued by all the photos from the future and what certain objects, clothing, animals, and buildings he didn’t recognize, making him think the future was cool, especially the pics of food he doesn’t recognize that he wants to recreate RIGHT NOW. He wouldn’t understand the purpose of photography at first because he has more of a live in the moment philosophy versus trying to capture the moment/reminisce the past. However, he learns to appreciate the moments captured on camera as time goes on. Always carries a wholesome sweet pic of mc or a hawt pic of mc when away from her on dangerous trips or battle and has to fight the urge to show the pics off to everyone he sees to HYPE UP HIS LASS cuz looking at the pics helps him visualize how much mc means to him and he finally understood the beauty of photography. Loves the pics Mc takes every two weeks of Shogetsu so she can create a slideshow of how big the tiger cub has been growing like life in fast motion. Would hang polaroid pics up on the wall for the futuristic art aesthetic and its like a wall of his own lil family that he’s finally been blessed with. With his literary gift in poetry and mc’s visual gift of photography, they’re the ultimate art duo that’s both wild and has drunken their philosophical juice.

[steampunkglasses]

— sdr2 circus au; circus of talent 🎪

— requested by: anonymous

“Now, a big round of applause to our dearest duo of clowns, Ibuki Mioda and Mikan Tsumiki!” announced Nagito Komaeda, the circus owner.

In a second, the stage was filled with confetti, bubbles and soap foam of all colors, and a clown with black, pink and blue clothing with horns in her head blasted to the public from the foam in a spark and a loud “boom!” and landed impressively on her feet, striking a pose with both of her fists closed against her waist and her long fake, pointy nose tilted up, while having a blue spotlight focused on her. It was an escape from the traditional Japanese aesthetic the circus had, but it was still impressive to the public.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” yelled her, “Ibuki Mioda!”

Then, another clown with a badly cut purple hair and wearing a black kimono with pink flowers and carrying a pie stepped peacefully in, with a big smile on her face. Abruptly, some kind of mallet hit her on the back in a comic “bonk” and caused her to slip on the foam, which caused her to shout and slide until she hit Ibuki, throwing her into the ground and falling right above her. The pie fell right into Mikan’s face and slid over to her outfit.

The audience bursted in laugher. Even Ibuki herself did when she looked up and saw Mikan with her face stuffed with frosting and her clothes full of foam.

But Mikan didn’t laugh. On the contrary, she brought her hands to her cheeks and started crying. “Oh, no! My pie is r-ruined! And I-I’m ruined too!” she whined.

Ibuki got up and slid her fingers through her chin, thinking about what she could do. Her face lit up with an idea, as she lifted her index finger on a classic gesture of “eureka!” She rant to one of the foam mountains and shoved her hands inside it, taking a pie out of it and he over to Mikan. The purple haired clown was crying so comically loud that she had to take a bugle and blew it loudly, making Mikan skip up out of fright — which made the crowd giggle. They stared at each other for a second, waiting for something to happen. Quickly, Ibuki threw the pie in her own face; it slowly slid down her face, and, when it finally did fall to the ground, it made her nose bounce quickly up and down, causing even Mikan herself to giggle.

“See? Now we’re even!” she exclaimed, helping Mikan to get up, and pulling her into a messy hug. The audience warmed up to a “awww” sound.

While Ibuki is entertained hugging her friend, Mikan takes a bandage roll out of her sleeve and starts wrapping it around them. Her plan was to just get Mioda wrapped, but she ends up wrapping both of them together. As she tries to abruptly separate them to reveal to Ibuki she’s stuck in bandages, she realizes they’re stuck together, and they both end up falling on the ground.

“Oh, no, this wasn’t what I planned...” whined Mikan as the public and Ibuki laughed.

They comically tried to roll out of the stage, but the bandages that tied them together only made them swing left to right to the delight of the audience. The man with white, spiky hair and a megaphone on his hands had to come for their help to the stage, also laughing. He simply grabbed the end of the bandages with one hand and harshly pulled, causing the girls to roll out to the ground, and you could easily picture birds flying in circles over their heads.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Mikan Tsumiki and Ibuki Mioda!” exclaimed Nagito into the megaphone, giggling and staring at the crowd.

The audience applauded, as the spotlight gently strolled to the entrance of the ring and the two clowns from the previous number ran and left through a secret exit that couldn’t be seen by the public and the mountains of foam gently disappeared into the air.

“Now, ladies and gentlemen,” the circus owner roared through the tent once more, “welcome Peko Pekoyama, the ultimate swordswoman!”

As he said that, a woman with her hair stuck on a braid behind her back and wearing a black attire tight to her body walked slowly into the ring. On her mouth, she had a fat cigar. On her back, there was a black and silver sheath, containing a katana. When she was already a few steps far from the entrance, she drew the sword out of the sheath, placed it right under her cigarette and spun it as it was made of leaves, cutting the tip of the cigar off and causing some dust to fall, gaining an applause from the crowd.

From the other side of the ring, a man in a tuxedo and a hat covering his eyes entered calmly walking on the stage, pulling a cart with a box on top. He stopped when he reached a catapult, placing the cart right beside it.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he circus owner announced once again, “Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu.”

He tilted his hat up so his eyes were now uncovered staring at the catapult. The stage was a complete silence while Fuyuhiko opened the box and took something from it: an apple. He placed the apple in the bucket and started spinning a handle slowly, pulling a string and bringing the catapult down little by little. When he finally released it, the apple flew across the stage, and Pekoyama swung her sword and sliced the fruit perfectly in half. The two apple slices fell to the ground gracefully, as the woman stood in the same place, like she never even moved in the first place.

She gained more claps and surprised gasps from the crowd, but they didn’t even realize the act had just started.

Next, Fuyuhiko took another fruit from the box, a watermelon. He did the same as he did for the apple, and released the watermelon directly to Peko. This time, she jumped on what seemed like a flash, and the watermelon fell into the ground, sliced in half, while she landed still with her feet on the ground. Her braid or cigar didn’t even seem to have moved.

Once more, the public clapped, gasped and whistled with her performance.

Kuzuryu shoved his hand inside the box once more, this time picking up a megaphone. With one and holding the megaphone close to his lips and the other pulling the cart as he walked closer to Peko, he said, “Now, folks, prepare to see Pekoyama’s true act.”

They crossed eyes with each other and nodded. Fuyuhiko picked the box from the cart and put it on the ground right beside Peko. As he walked away pushing the cart to leave the stage, just stopping to pick up the fruit slices from the ground and take them out of the stage.

Peko swings her katana back to it’s sheath, leaning to the box and opening it completely. She searched for something using her hands, and found it: a lighter, and uses it to light up her giant cigar.

She throws the lighter back inside the box and takes something directly out of it, earning well-deserved gasps from the crowd.

Dynamite.

She brings the fuse close to the tip of her cigar, causing it to catch fire. The crowd whispers and gasps in awe and twinges of fear. Quickly, she throws the dynamite up and cuts the fuse before it can reach the dynamite, not letting it explode, getting one more applause.

She takes another dynamite from the box, puts it on fire using the tip of her cigar, but, instead of throwing it upwards, she throws it directly to the crowd.

The crowd started screaming, until something flashed in front of them, stopping the dynamite before it could reach them. Peko had jumped and cut the fuse like a thunder, and used the impact the bomb had on her sword to throw it down, or at least stop it from going forward to the crowd, causing the red pipe to fall on the stage ground. More applauses came.

Now, when she goes back to the box, she gets even more dynamite — a whole bundle. She spins the bundle to light it up using her cigar, and slices all the fuses she had to so it wouldn’t explode.

She just wouldn’t stop. She picked one firework, dynamite, or anything with a fuse she could cut and made the crowd believe it would explode until she cut it.

Until she saw she had one last explosive in the box, a firework. She takes the firework and lights it up with the tip of her massive cigar like she did with the others. The audience waits for the flash to strike and cut the fuse off, but that flash never came. A bright red explosion occurred behind her, as Pekoyama held the sharp tip of the sword against ser tongue, holding the grip with both hands. The crowd was in pure surprise while they watched the woman pushing the sword down her throat, slowly swallowing it. When the sword was already completely eaten by her, a loud gulp roars through the tent.

After a few seconds of digesting the sword, she sighs and takes the lighter from the box to lit her cigar one last time and blow smoke.

The tent was filled with claps, gasps, shouts, whistles, every impressed noise you can imagine. Peko bowed to thank the crowd, but didn’t leave the stage, just walked over to sit down in the first line on the audience, enjoy the rest of the show, seriously.

“Now, here they come,” announced the circus owner, as the spotlight strolled over to the entrance once more, “our best dancer and our best human cannon ball, Hiyoko Saionji and Teruteru Hanamura!”

From the entrance, a short man entered the stage. He wore an orange attire decorated with painted white flowers, and a white helmet to match. He waved at the crowd, calmly making his way into the stage. When the crowd least expected, he was knocked down by a huge mallet, getting a loud laugh from the crowd. The spotlight instantly switched to a blonde girl wearing a kimono that matched Teruteru’s outfit, only more detailed and with some kind of rocket bomb tied to her back, receiving a round of applause. She was standing on top of some kind of metal pedestal, tied to a tightrope. She held one green fan on each hand, and one long ornate pipe dangling from her lips. She looked so adorable it was hard to believe she was the one who threw the mallet at him.

Her sharp eyes rolled through the stage, as it was a sign for the music to start. A gentle traditional Japanese melody filled the silent tent, and Hiyoko slightly moved her arms, dancing with the fans.

Suddenly, the calming music stops, giving place for a loud cymbal sound, and then a suspicious and loud music starts as Hiyoko slowly moved one feet to step in the tightrope in front of her. The crowd gasped.

She slowly stepped again, and the rope shook. A tense music roared as she stepped again, and again, and again. Each of her arms were extended to her side, holding the fans tightly, while the pipe dangled on her lips every time she moved.

As she was on the middle of the rope, two fireworks went up and blew exactly beside her dangerously, the explosions not allowing her to continue. As soon as the two fireworks weren’t a threat anymore, she took a deep breath and continued, slowly, step by step.

At the end of the rope, there was only one last step left. Two fireworks erupted beside her again abruptly, surprising the public once more. She waited for the a bit after the explosion to continue once more, and, with one last step, she finished crossing the tightrope, reached the other metal pedestal.

A calming melody sounded again as the audience applauded and Hiyoko danced on top of the pedestal, moving her arms slowly while holding the fans open. As the music stopped, she stepped in some platform in front of the pedestal and, as Teruteru spun the handle, the platform descended with Saionji on top of it with the spotlight still focused on her. It took a few seconds until she was on the ground again.

While Hiyoko distracted the audience with her tightrope number, Teruteru set lots of fireworks, making some sort of oval arena inside the stage, with enough space for Hiyoko to dance.

She stepped inside the oval through a small opening Hanamura had left for her, as planned, and started a traditional Japanese soft melody started playing. She softly moved her arms and shook the fans on her hands while smoke of all colors coming out of the tip of the pipe, and sometimes even some sparkles. Sometimes she lowered her torso, keeping her head straight so the pipe wouldn’t fall off her mouth, and spinning so she could face every part of the audience. While she danced, Teruteru used a small lighter to light up some fireworks around her, causing light blue, orange and green explosions to happen right above them. As Hiyoko finished her dancing number, all the fireworks left exploded one right after one, as Saionji finished her performance with a cutesy pose, earning claps and shouts from the crowd.

After a few seconds holding her pose, Hiyoko walked over in Teruteru’s direction, who held her mallet with a smile that went from ear to ear. Now, the only spotlight had vanished, as all the tent lights turned on again, giving the audience a complete view of the stage.

“Yes, Miss Saionji?” questioned him with a sloppy voice while she stood right in front of him.

She didn’t answer due to the long ornate pipe on her mouth, but she put her fans on the ground and gestured with her hands in a sign of asking for the mallet, and he gave it to her. She held it with both hands and spun her arms around three times, releasing it on Hanamura and flinging him directly to the inside of the cannon, causing the audience to laugh. She walked calmly over to the cannon, as Teruteru waved dizzily to the public. Hiyoko positioned herself behind the canon fuse, leaning down to lit it up with a spark. The fuse sparkled away slowly, giving time to one more dancing act of hers. More colorful smoke came from the pipe dangling from her lips as she beautifully spun not only her arms and fans, but also herself around the stage, lighting up fireworks using the sparkles coming from the tip of the pipe.

Hiyoko knows exactly when the fuse finally burns down, which gave her time to strike an adorable pose while she plugged her ears as Teruteru was shot into the night sky, accompanied by an explosion of sparkles coming directly from her pipe.

“Yahoo!” he exclaimed as he flew over the audience. He went through a square opening on the tent — proper for him to pass — and disappearing into the night sky in a comical twinkle, causing the crowd to erupt with laughter.

The spotlight was back to Hiyoko and Hiyoko only. She walked calmly over to the center of the stage, tricking the audience to think she had magically made two fans appear on her hands using the ones she had just hidden using the space between her back and the rocket before the performance even started. The melody started again, and she went back to her dancing act, as all the members of the circus got in a line, with Saionji in the middle. When she was finished dancing, all the tent lights lit up again. Hiyoko threw her fans to the ground and Kazuichi, the mechanic that worked behind the whole show, gave her the mallet, that was comically big compared to Hiyoko herself.

Finally, the circus bowed to the public that shoved them with applause.

“Thank you all so much for coming!” said Nagito Komaeda as the crowd separated and left the tent. “Have a good night!”

As the crowd dissolved and there was only a few people left on the tent, the members were tired but extremely proud of one more extravagantly done performance, and were ready for a rest.

“Hey, now,” called Kazuichi, “why does Hiyoko has a rocket on her back?”

“For this,” said Peko, taking huge cigar out of her mouth and lit up the fuse, slowly bringing it back to her lips again.

“Wha— what—“ Hiyoko stuttered as she understood what was going to happen to her. In a few seconds, she was blasted into the sky and went through the same hole as Teruteru, screaming and cussing at her partners. While she flew up into the sky, she released the mallet, causing it to fall right over Hanamura’s head.

“Twinkle twinkle little star, oh-my-god-that-girl-went-far,” Ibuki sang a ditty, while Mikan had both her hands covering her eyes.

Pekoyama crossed her arms; she seemed weirdly proud of her action.

But it wasn’t done yet. The rocket exploded, causing a firework to erupt in a massive color explosion, forming a figure of Hiyoko herself to appear on the sky, visible to the public that had even left the tent already. The firework pipe in her mouth sparkled shooting even more fireworks. The firework Hiyoko cutely winks and blows a firework smoke ring, finally ending the show.

After the real Hiyoko came back from her blastoff, she went to help the other circus members to undo the tent and take down the decorations — it was their last presentation at that city, after all.

Now, her and Teruteru were removing the chairs, just like many of the others, as Hiyoko was back to smoking her funnily long pipe.

“Hey, Hiyoko,” said Teruteru, as him and Saionji removed the chairs, “I think our act was simply amazing. L-like, the way you danced and kept throwing me around the stage—“

His voiced made him sound like he was melting, and that exact tone was the one that made Hiyoko’s blood boil. She quickly got her hands on her mallet once again, held it close to the tip of her pipe so it was burning, spun it around and Teruteru was once again blasted into the night sky, this time creating a hole on the tent with an even brighter twinkle, that caused the others to cover their eyes like they were staring directly into the sun, even though the night was still outside.

It wasn’t exactly the sun, it was more of a fire, reflecting directly into Peko’s glasses as she carried one of the chairs that once held the public; it glowed just like the huge cigar that she wouldn’t remove from her lips. She looked at Fuyuhiko, that carried another chair behind her. “She might’ve broken a distance record this time. I wonder if he’ll reach the orbit again.”

Kuzuryu smiled behind her, trying not to laugh, “Just keep going.”

“Oh, no, this again...” cried Mikan.

Ibuki bursted into laughter, “This never gets old!” She watched him comically vanish, then put her palms around her lips and yelled, “Hey, shoot for the moon, Teruteru!”

“I can’t even tell if she’s joking or not,” commented Souda.

Hiyoko crossed her arms and used one hand to remove the pipe from her lips, “Keep going! Nothing to see here, morons.”

Nagito giggled, and they went back to working on undoing the tent. As she walked away, the smoke coming out Saionji’s pipe was forming heart shapes without her even realizing. Ibuki noticed it, and shook her head in Mikan’s direction as she was asking “Should I point it out?” and she frenetically shook her head as she was screaming “no!” and Ibuki immediately understood why.

[lwiamatka-a]

Portraits of Calanthe Fiona Riannon, the Lioness of Cintra, Ard Rhena, Modron Calanthe - Queen of Cintra in the years 1232-1263, Queen-Consort of Skellige, from the dynasty of Cerbins. 1235; aged 17, 1239; aged 21 with Princess Pavetta aged 2, 1248; aged 30, 1258; aged 40.

[lionorsa-a]

“ Look. Cintra. Beautiful, bountiful land. Forests, rivers, meadows... Out there, the ocean. Everyone lives in peace. Humans, dwarves, elves. Prosperity and unity. ” Hexer 2001.

[miminorenai]

Chapter 7

(Eh...?)

(There’s someone on the stage...)

Onstage, MC notices shadows of two person, wearing costumes or something like, armors (?), and Shakespeare at the side of stage along with someone she doesn’t know.

She mentions how passionate are them for still practicing until this late of night.

Dazai “......No.”

Dazai manages to catch up to her, and then —

Shakespeare “Wellington, Gilles de Rais......!”

Sword clashes could be heard, along with surprised and impatient voices.

Unconsciously, MC’s shoulders start shaking and her eyes open widely.

Man 1 “I’ll kill you, for justice......!”

Man 1 “...Ugh...Why am I still holding the sword...? What was my justice......?”

Man 2 “......It’s not enough, I need more death to get him back......”

Man 2 “If I offer death, will God......return him...?”

At the moment the clashes become intense —

(What...?)

Dazai “Mimi-san.”

Just before Dazai could cover her eyes, MC saw the shadows thrust their swords deeply into each other chests......

He immediately brings MC away from there, just then gently, Dazai releases his hands.

MC’s body hardly move in Dazai’s arms.

With the heart’s beating face and shaking voice —

MC “Dazai-san......They-they are practicing for a play just now, right......?”

Feeling anxious, MC grasps her hands tightly.

Dazai then lies his hands on MC’s (hands), and reassuring her.

Dazai “......Of course. As expected of the member of Shakespeare-kun’s theater. The acting looks so real that you can tell even in the dark.”

Dazai “It’s rude to see more of the story material, so let’s go back.”

MC “...Alright...”

He says it with a light tone and gently presses MC’s back.

(Really......it was acting, right?)

The metallic clashing sound and the groans are still clear in MC’s ears.

She leans over to Dazai’s warmth in order to escape them.

In confusion, MC doesn’t realize that — 

— she drops a handkerchief on the spot. 

**

Charles-Henri Sanson feels some presence, but when he raises his head towards the spot, there’s no shadows.

Charles “Is it my imagination?”

Seeing the blood pool on the stage with a pale face —

Shakespeare “......What....why....?”

Charles “What’s wrong, Will? Why do you look pale?”

Charles “It’s the tragedy of the “special casts” that Will wanted to see.”

Shakespeare “Charles...”

Charles “They were two famous soldier, right?”

Charles “Duke Wellington who defeated Napoleon and Gilles de Rais who fought with Jeanne.”

Both of them lived in different countries and era, and should never be in 19th century.

Shakespeare “Why are the two who have nothing to do with each other —”

Charles “With his brainwashing power, Ōsama tried to amplify the negativity rooted in their hearts — saying it was a present for Will.”

Charles “「Since you cannot write a play easily, it might be a little inspiring」, he said.”

Turning even paler —

Shakespeare “I didn’t want this......!”

Shakespeare “I wish I had seen special casts who leave behind their names in history, to be in conflicts and struggling before fate.”

Shakespeare “And then I want to make that experiences before my eyes as a source of creative production.......”

Shakespeare “This is not a tragedy, this is a plain murder!”

Charles “I don’t like this......They fought at great pains, but end up dying in vain.”

Shakespeare’s face distorted in pain and he falls on his knees as he’s collapsing due to overwhelming feelings.

After seeing the state/condition with his own eyes, Charles ascending the stage and a man with glasses already waited for him.

Johann Georg Faust.

Faust “Are you done?”

Charles “Doc, did you come to pick me up? Ah, are you going to dissect them?”

Faust “I won’t. It’s a gift from *His Excellency Vlad for Shakespeare, right?”

(*he used 閣下 here, which means His Excellency, so can Lord used here as well?

Charles “Well, that’s true, but...”

While walking behind Faust who’s going to call for a carriage to the castle —

Charles “Hey, doc. I don’t really understand.”

Charles “Will said it wasn’t a tragedy, but killing each other is a tragedy, right? What’s the difference?”

Faust “......That’s just his aesthetics as playwright, I think. Or is it obsession?”

Faust “In any case, Charl doesn’t need to think that deeply.”

Just then, Charles notices and picks up MC missing handkerchief, along with her initial. 

Turning back —

Faust “What’s wrong?”

Charles “Nuh-uh, it’s nothing.”

With a smile, he put the handkerchief into his pocket.

The carriage they on board runs through the night of Paris.

As soon as Faust and Charles arrives at the castle, they set foot on the garden.

??? “...... —𝅘𝅥𝅮......”

Their master, Vlad is humming happily while attending the flowers.

Faust “Goodness, the sun had fallen, but are you still taking care of flowers?”

Charles “Ahaha! You’re still in your apron, Lord Vlad?

Vlad “Eh......right, I’m really absorbed in flowers and forgot to change my clothes.”

Vlad “......Welcome home, both of you.”

[killem-all-if-they-wont-eat-cake]

Image: Freja och Svipdag (1911) by John Bauer

My text "Freyja en Svipdag" published in Covidnine-zine, a magazine edited by the wonderful Winnie Sluis, idealized by Winnie and Lisa @oppergod, with collaboration of several amazing artists.

“With her eyes closed and very sleepy, she could feel the sea breeze on her face and hear the sound of the tide breaking in nine waves, one after the other, until she finally managed to open her eyelids.

At first, she discerned arches and pillars through the blurred image, which she later identified as the ruins of an old cathedral. The stone foundations of this structure immediately reminded her of Glastonbury Abbey. The sound of the violin came to her, as well as the seagulls’ song and the gallop of a gray horse mounted by a masked young man, who headed in her direction. On the beach, an old lady recited the stanzas of ancient poems. Coffins swept across the sand, such as fragments of a shipwreck. The corpse of the violinist, who once was Yorick, the court jester, suddenly stopped the music, marveling at the horizon and contemplating his next song, as follows:

'Oh  Páter if I only knew who she was...  I swear I would have sought her earlier!  Oh Páter, here comes Gwena, who traces  This plot, full of diminished chords...

Tis  fire, aye, ‘tis pipe’s ember,  Burning slow and steady, steaming  And if I inhale, choke and clear my throat  Bitter-sweet is her surrender, such a delight  This woman...

Yet  I think she keeps  Something restrained  For the One of the strings...

She  dares not look but only glimpse

Her  bearing ever so high,  Still entrapped in a gilded cage  From which one tries to break  With a treble clef... Egnis! Egnis!

Aye,  see as it burns strong,

It is painful for Gaius,  Her way of walking and fluttering  Always a promise of the foreign

 Though  beware not to cut yourself;  For she is like As-Sirāt,  Even if broken, she remains sharp.

More  so she is intricate and complex,  Full of ardor and nothing else,  And seems entirely anti-flustered  Ah! ... but if there is a breach...

 “Tis  for sure the apple-tree”  I answer myself.  Since when I wandered haphazardly,  Wandering, wondering, though not seeing  If there was indeed an olive tree...

 Thus,  if the fire she already brought;  And I always have some cider;  Only the gold is wrought...

What  fire is that?  Mighty and aristocratic,  Convoluted and anti-pragmatic.

Alas,  we get to the story’s end,

If  you expected me to be light-hearted

To  speak of her beauty or noble

character,

 You  don’t see me for who I really am

For  only the sublime pain of a burn

Compares  to shall be required

To  conquer her troublesome

Spirit.

 Nevertheless,  if I allow myself

A  final indulgence, I think it goes

Without  saying.. that she’s beautiful,

Dignified,  and a relief to the eyes,

(Though  quite difficult to contain)

That’s  why I have fallen...O Páter!”

The rider dismounted and removed his mask, revealing a quite familiar face.

Then he burst into tears, moans, and screams, calling out the name “Sophie! Sophie!” A cacophony of chimes and carillon began at an Episcopal belfry, the imposing figure of a castle appeared behind the mist. Brísingamen, the fiery torque, sparkled around her neck as she rose, entirely dressed in white. The young man, who wore black garments, offered her his hand, and spoke:

 “Dear Sophie, your father awaits us.”

 The strangest thing happened; she felt her lips moving without having ordered so. “My darling Joris, at last you have come for me.”

 Although she did not know exactly how, she remembered the young man in front of her was her betrothed, and that they referred to each other by the names of the saints which the ephemeris fell on their respective birthdays. His on the feast day of Sint-Joris van Cappadocië, and hers on that of St. Sophie van Rome.

 “Sophie, the owl told me the baker shall hold a banquet in our honour!”

 “O, here, have a daisy” she said, taking a flower from the garland adorning her long blonde hair. “I would give you give you some violets, but they all withered when the fishmonger sailed to Crete.”

 “Indeed, Aerope told me that Catreus’ ashes are still warm.”

 They walked side by side, with hands intertwined, wearing wicked smiles as they climbed the hill where the castle's Tor stood. Upon arriving, they were received by the King of Guilder and the rest of his progeny.

 “Welcome, my children, to Kasteel Groninger! Our earthly paradise. Pray, remember the road ahead is still long. Fredegund anxiously awaits Siegbert's return, in deep sleep at the Mountain of Obstacles. Do not forget that: Fafnir must yet perish and Sigrdrífa still needs to be stripped of her armour” King Aegir affectionately warned, embracing both Sophie, whom he recognized as his youngest daughter, and Joris, his future son-in-law.

 "Your majesty, I assure you I shall be worthy enough to wed Lady Menglöð" replied Joris, referring to Sophie, the princess of Guilder, by her true name.

 “Heer Valentijn,” asked King Aegir, also calling Joris by his birth name “I believe the sacrifice of Galswintha will not have been in vain: Faith, Hope and Charity shall be glorified, but do not forget to greet your new sisters.”

 With their faces veiled and sitting on the stairs of an old church, the nine daughters of Aegir, presented themselves one by one. The oldest was called Schnecke, “Bloody-hair”, thus called in virtue of her red hair; the second went by the name of Mimi, the “Billow”, therefore known due to her being prone to fits of nervousness; the third was called Caroline, the “Comber”, because of her explosive temper; the fourth answered by Lily, “Pearl-transparent”, on the account of her translucent complexion; the fifth was named Henriette, the “Small-Wave”, due to her short height; the sixth answered by Olga, the “Lifting”, on account of her extraordinary intelligence; the seventh was called Hannah, the “Great-Wave”, thus known for her bulkiness;  the eighth daughter was Jeannette, called the “Well of Origin” for having the habit of reciting prophetic riddles every time somebody asked her something; the last of them, Friederike, the “Cool-Wave”, was therefore called on account of her cold manners.

 Each of them, as Joris approached, answered him with witty sentences related to each of their epithets. At the end of these parables, King Aegir once again addressed him:

 “Valentijn van Florin, I give you my word as sovereign of Guilder that the most beautiful flower in my garden is your dear Sophie, who at this very hour tomorrow you shall take as your wife. Such a marriage will unite our two rival kingdoms under a single crown, as intended your kinsman, Prince Humperdinck, though in far less auspicious circumstances.”

 The bride and the groom waltzed through the castle, covering the walls of each room with snow. Whenever Joris asked if she wanted to be his wife, Sophie burst into hysterical laughing, which echoed throughout the stairs. Sometimes she replied she first owed vassalage to another lord, who was certainly sterner and bonier. This ‘danse macabre’ continued until they faced the stained windows of the cathedral, when the black priest signaled them to stop. For this reason, the nine waves blew out the candles on the candelabrum, one by one, forming a fairy-ring around the two of them and joining their dance wildly.

 Joris mused for a moment and said:

 “Three times nine girls, but one girl rode ahead,

white-skinned under her helmet;

the horses were trembling, from their manes

dew fell into the deep valleys,

hail in the high woods;

good fortune comes to men from there;

all that I saw was hateful to me.”

 For the celebrations to continue Sophie was taken to the hall of Suttungr, while Joris was given the task of finding the severed head of Mimir. Locked up in the chamber of Invitation to Battle, Sophie was punished for exercising her prerogative in choosing differently from what the All-father had commanded. There, Huginn and Muninn, her liege's crows, whispered bad omens at her ears as she repeatedly painted a Byzantine icon of the Virgin of Mercy.

 “Torture me all you want,” she said to her tormentors “a tearing joy overwhelms my soul. Plato's aesthetic dictates the beauty of forms is equivalent to the greater good and that which is purer. I merely follow the example of Paris in his preference for the ‘kallistei’; the beloved is always chosen for blind love, and only love. I admit I may be wrong, but I still believe that his heart is as good and generous as I sensed on our first meeting. The world is sustained by hope, we believe in what we want to believe and how we want to believe; it does not matter if nature and experience tell us otherwise. My dreams have never betrayed me, my heart has never lied to me: it is necessary to follow one’s deepest desires, for they are ordained by the Norns.”

 In retaliation, the crows of the one-eyed king pecked at her ears until her neck was covered in blood. Ignoring the pangs of pain, Sophie continued to draw the icon that depicted a beautiful sleeping maiden, whose closed eyes showed an expression of tenderness and parted lips outlined a tenuous, albeit provocative smile, as though she was caught in a sensuous dream.

 Hence, Sophie chanted in low voice:

“What sort of dream is that, Odin?

I dreamed I rose up before dawn

to clear up Valhöll for slain people.

I aroused the Einheriar,

bade them get up to strew the benches,

clean the beer-cups,

the valkyries to serve wine

for the arrival of a prince.”

At the same time, Joris rode up to the Mountain of Obstacles, where the earth shook and a pit of flames reaching the sky surrounded the red gold of the gods. In this desolate place, the guardian at the gate, who was also the chieftain of the dwarves, gave Joris the sword of anger and the shield of wisdom with which he was able to defeat the horrible serpent, Jörmungandr.

After licking a drop of the creature’s blood on his finger, Joris was given the gift of understanding the crows’ language, which then instigated him to come to the chamber of Invitation to Battle. As soon as he entered the room, he blew on the horn he carried on his neck by a chain. The Virgin awoke from her feverish dream.

Sitting on a golden throne, the queen-like Sophie gladly received him in her father's hall:

“For nine lives I have awaited you, and for nine days you have hanged on the Sefirotic Tree. To you I give my gray horse, so you can ride to Gamla Uppsala; for Memory can only be restored when Gjallahorn descends to the well of origin. There, Heidr will offer you one of her full tits. Drink patiently, but steadily.”

“Frigga, my dear wife, all I ask is for you to grant me knowledge of the nine worlds.”

Before proceeding with her husband’s request, Sophie prayed for eloquence and intelligence, taking her lute in her hand, singing the most beautiful song of shadow and dawn. She praised the day, the night, the gods and goddesses, and the Holy Land where the Nazarene was crucified. After prayer, she harvested liquid from three of her father’s most precious cauldrons and prepared the elixir of life and death, stating it contained enchantments, blessings, songs and runes of power, manliness and pleasure of the flesh and soul.

Sophie told Joris that in the beginning there was nothing, and this nothing was called Njörun. When Njörun became aware of herself, she begot Njöðr. From the union between these two, Mardöll was born. The latter was self-suficient, loving herself and being therefore happy. However, curiosity caused the goddess to create a mirror from her own breath, and when she contemplated her own reflection, she fell madly in love with it. Since then, she divided herself in two: Mardöll of Fire, who saw the image, and Mardöll of Ice, the image seen. After tracing a runic symbol on her body and whispering over it, her reflection became Yngve, her twin brother. The two of them began a frantic dance that culminated in intercourse, from where emerged the rest of the runic spirits.

Sophie then told him how Mardöll first taught the runes to the All-father, how he held the head of Mimir and uttered wise words; and that from them flowed the worlds of the Æsir, Vanir, giants, elves, and humanity. She went on to count all the kinds of runes that Joris needed to know and how to use them. At last asking him if he would like speech or silence from her. To which Joris replied he was not afraid of knowing his fate, even if that meant death.

Shortly after, she took his horn, in which she poured the Mead of Poetry, while rambling: “The beautiful should not perish; the fair should not perish. Eternal love of immortal soul, glittering through my skin like fins. Drop by drop, your spirit will return to me, the first drop will be heavenly!”

The moment Joris took the last sip of this precious drink, the walls opened, and the drums played. King Aegir and the nine waves were finally welcomed to the wedding feast. Circling an oath-ring on a trunk, the sovereign of Guilder joined the hands of his daughter and son-in-law, making a cut on each of their palms so that their blood could mix. Joris and Sophie intertwined their fingers and together declared:

“Ubi tu Askr

Ego Embla;

Ubi tu Embla,

Ego Askr.”

“When thou art the Ash

I shall be the Elm;

When thou art the Elm

I shall be the Ash.”

“Grímnir, the greatest of all gods, is here, he proclaims you to be one flesh, consecrated to him” decreed King Aegir as the newlyweds resumed their bridal dance, accompanied by the nine waves, who happily sang:

“Stampa hårt i marken,

Låt säden flyta  runt,

Ta emot den unga  flickan,

Frej i älskog,

Freja i älskog.”

“Step hard on the ground,

Let the seed fly,

Welcome the Young Maiden,

Freyr in lovemaking,

Freyja in lovemaking.”

Joris enveloped Sophie in a lustful embrace, with each whirl more ardent than before, ‘til they both lost their balance and fell backwards in the hay. At this moment, Thanatos, the black priest showed up uninvited:

“I am a polar bear who has floated here from Greenland on an iceberg. May the gods bless your matrimony with such perennial beauty as that from the coupling of Zeus and Leda. As a wedding gift, I bring you a veil made for an Arabian princess. Please, accept it. O Vanadís, daughter of the king of kings.”

Upon hearing this, Sophie let out a long shriek. She understood what those words meant. For three nights, she and Joris made love at moonlight, in the presence of the court of Guilder and all the creatures of the universe. On the morning of the fourth day, he had to leave her side to wander the nine worlds, bringing the sacred knowledge he acquired to whichever mortals he found. Weeping, Sophie bade adieu to her husband with the following greeting:

“My will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great. My sisters receive the heroes at Fólkvangr, serving mead to those slain in battle. When the ash commune with the elm, you shall return to me. Not a second after, not a second before.”

The black priest then proceeded to lead them to the calvary, placing two wreaths of thorns on their heads. “I crown thee, Freyja and Óðr.”

For nine days and nights, Sophie bitterly mourned her lost husband, crying tears of gold for his sake. Once again trapped in the Mountain of Obstacles, she cried out for mercy to the one who was older than time itself:

“That man hon fólkvig fyrst í heimi,

er Gullveig geiru studdu

ok i hǫll Hárs hana brendu;

thrysvar brendu thrysvar borna,

opt, ósjaldan, tho hon enn lifir!

Heidi hana hétu, hvars til húsa kom,

vǫlu velspá,  vitti hon ganda

seid hon hvars hon kunni,

seid hon hugleikin,

æ var hon angan illrar brudar.”

“She remembers the first war in the world,

when Gullveig was hoist on the spears

in the High-One’s hall they burned her;

three times they burned the three times born

often, not seldom; yet she lives! 

She was called Heidr at the village,

the wise völva knew how to cast spells

she practiced seiðr whenever she could

with ravished soul, she performed seiðr,

She was always sought by wicked women.”

As she asked for divine intervention, Sophie devoted herself to the hard work required by the spinning wheel. As though passing in a trance through Psyche's trials, she was accompanied by her sisters, who danced around her, hand in hand. The first branches of the elm emerged from her heart, which enwrapped her in just a few minutes. From her withered body, the most majestic tree of Fensalir was formed. Three times she was struck by lightning, three times she burned; only to be three times reborn the next dawn.

When Joris at last returned from his travels around the world, finding her in such a state he declared:

“Nu em ec aptr kominn,

fát gat ec thegiandi thar;

margom orthom melta ec i minn frama i Suttungs sǫlom.

Gunnlad mer um gaf gunom stóli á

drycc ins dyra miathar; ill ithgiold

let ec hana eptir hafa

sins ins heila hugar

sins ins  svara seva.”

“Now I have come again,

I’d have hardly made it so far;

without speaking great words to my advantage in the hall  of Suttungr.

Gunnlöð gave me, from her golden throne

The precious drink of mead; a poor payment

I gave her in return

for her whole soul

for her  burdened spirit.”

With these sorrowful words he also became an ash tree, his roots becoming entangled with hers. From their union emerged a magnificent swan egg which cracked in two beautiful girls. The Æsir called them Hnoss and Gersemi, the Twin Treasures.’