#(she has four animals and i love them all dearly but one of them is always front and center at all times)

[ishgard]

.

[writing-intheundercroft]

Ser Freckles // S. Sallow

Rating: T

WC: 2,743

Summary: As heir to the throne, the princess takes appointing her sworn protector very seriously.

A/N: Submitted as part of a writing challenge because I'm a glutton for starting AU projects. inspired heavily by HOTD (I've been looking for an excuse to use the name Gawayne). Much love to the pals who keep Knight!Seb living in my brain <3

“Now that you are of age, and officially the heir to the throne, it’s time you appoint your first sworn sword.”

She looked up to Fig as they walked down the stone stairs, the excited chatter from the courtyard echoing off the walls.  Fig had been her tutor all her life, and only now did she realize her lessons with him had a greater purpose.  She was the only daughter of the king’s dearly departed brother, a king who lacked any heirs of his own.  And now that she’d turned eighteen, with no hopes for a male cousin in sight, she had been formally invested as the heir apparent.

Fig was no lowly court tutor, she realized. He’d been placed with her from her youth, preparing her for what had seemed like a distant possibility that she might one day become queen. Lord Eleazar Fig, a member of the King’s Counsel, had been priming her to take power all along.

”I’m not sure why I can’t keep Lady Singer,” she mumbled, kicking her skirts as they continued their descent. “She’s been my guardian for as long as I can remember.”

”Lady Singer is a governess,” Fig reminded her. “And in no way capable of being your sworn protector.  The young man you choose today will become a knight, sworn to your king's guard.  Can you remind me what the function of your king's guard is?”

”My queen’s guard,” she snipped, emphasizing the word, “will protect my counsel and me from harm, as well as my future heirs.”

“Precisely, Princess.” Fig smiled. “It’s largely a symbolic role considering the relative peace our realm has seen this past one hundred years, even more so with the city watch taking guard of the castle.  But the king—er, queen’s guard is a deep rooted tradition each house takes very seriously.  The gentlemen we’ve assembled today for your selection come from some of the great houses of the realm.  Others have been lauded for their bravery and skill in the battlefield.”

The princess and Lord Fig walked to the balcony, the crowd below falling into silence. There were six men (boys, she observed, especially considering she’d grown up with four of them around court) standing in the courtyard below.  They all wore gleaming armor, save for the last, wearing a dull set without embellishments.  Each had a pennant with their house sigil, members of their families standing behind them. The animals on each pennant were embroidered with gleaming metallic thread–lions, eagles, badgers, and snakes taking center, representing the great houses each family bowed to. 

Lord Fig took her hand, helping her stand on a stool to catch a better glimpse of her future knight.

”The first proposed candidate is Ser Leander Prewett,” Fig stated loudly. “Ser Leander is the second son of Lord Lyonel Prewett.  He is a fine duelist, trained by one of the land’s most notable swordsmen.”

She cocked her brow, observing the redhead below.  Tall, lithe, with a glorious mane of red hair.

”And rather shit on a horse,” she muttered under her breath. “Did you see him in the last tourney?”

”Horsemanship is not a requirement of a knight, Princess.” Fig muttered.

”He truly had no idea if he was facing the front, or the back.” She joked. 

Lord Fig concealed his laugh in a cough. He waved his arm, and Leander’s gleaming smile vanished into a rather sour expression as the next option stepped forward.

”Ser Garreth Weasley,” Fig announced. “The third son of Lord Gwayne Weasley.”

”I know Ser Garreth well,” she smiled demurely. “Is it not one of the oaths as my queen’s guard to take no wife, have no children, and to be sworn to uphold the duties of the crown until death or dismissal?”

”It is, Princess.”

She clicked her tongue. “I know very well my dear friend Lady Natsai would be quite upset if I took her beloved to my service.  I’d rather see the two of them happily married than split apart by duty.” She waved him backwards, knowing Natty would be pleased.  Garreth stepped back, cheeks red, but a relieved look on his face.

“The next option is Ser Amit Thakkar,” Fig looked down at his notes. “Son of the Dowager Lady Tara Thakkar. No notable tourney experience, he’s been—“

”Away for his studies in the new world,” the princess interjected. “I know Ser Amit quite well. Tell me, Ser, how was your research on the skies?  Anything new to report?”

“I’ve identified at least twelve constellations once lost to our maesters,” Amit announced excitedly. “And I do look forward to finding more.”

She tilted her head to Fig, eyebrows raised. “I do believe Ser Amit’s talents are better used with the college of maesters, rather than as a member of my queen’s guard.”

”Moving on,” Fig tutted. “Ser Duncan Hobhouse, son of—“

”No.”

”Okay, on to the next.” Fig winced, letting the young Duncan Hobhouse step back with a sigh. “Next is Ser Isaac Cooper. Son of Ser Tristan Cooper, the Lord Commander of the city watch.  Strong, steady, and good with a lance.  Ser Isaac has topped the tourney lists, specifically winning the tourney of Aranshire this past spring. ”

The princess chewed her lower lip as she appraised Ser Isaac.  He stood tall, black hair cropped closely to his head. His parents stood behind him proudly bearing the badger on their sigil.  Isaac gave her a beaming smile, followed by a rather obvious wink.

“I look forward to serving you, my princess, in all ways you see fit.” Isaac said loudly, followed by a showy bow. A gaggle of young ladies on the upper balcony giggled audibly, Ser Isaac blowing a kiss to his admirers.

The princess gagged, wrinkling her nose as she turned back to her tutor. 

”A tourney knight,” she huffed. “Tell me, Lord Fig, do any of these knights have real combat experience?”

Fig sighed deeply, beckoning forward the sixth option.  It was the knight in plain armor; unlike the others, he did not have a large gathering of family members behind him.  A thin, peaky girl stood by his side, wobbling on her feet as their sigil shook in her hands. The green velvet of the flag looked worn, but a silver snake had been embroidered into the fabric with metallic thread, red beads for eyes.  Behind them was a stern looking man, beard peppered with silver hairs.  

The boy paid them no attention, standing forward with his head bowed to her. 

“Ser Sebastian Sallow,” Fig cleared his throat. “The nephew of Ser Solomon Sallow, a former knight of the city watch.  He was dismissed from his post after the death of his brother, taking on the stewardship of his young niece and nephew.  Ser Solomon and his nephew Sebastian have taken the responsibility of patrolling the lower highlands, protecting their hamlets from ashwinders and poachers.”

She leaned forward over the railing, interest piqued by the humble knight below. “Tell me, Ser Sebastian, of your experience fighting against the ashwinder rebellion.”

He lifted his head, big brown eyes framed by an explosion of freckles. He had a round, boyish face for eighteen, thick brown hair descending in waves. A blush took over his cheeks as he dipped his head once more.

”I have fought against the ashwinders for the past five years, Princess.  For as long as my uncle has allowed me.” He said, tipping his head back towards the stern man. “The lower hamlets rarely see reinforcements from the city watch, so it is up to the residents themselves to gather arms.”

“And when did you become a knight, Ser Sebastian?”

Sebastian turned briefly to look at his uncle, who merely nodded. “The Lord Commander of the city watch was passing through our hamlet when he witnessed me apprehending a cohort of ashwinder assassins.” He adjusted his grip on the helmet in his hands, metal clanking as he shifted.  Unlike the others, there were no grand decorations, no feathery plumes attached to the helmet.  It was practical, well-worn steel that had seen battle many times before. “He knighted me on the field, after the battle.”

”One boy against twenty ashwinders,” Fig whispered in her ear. “Quite a feat.”

She braced her palms against the stone ledge, hair falling over her shoulders. He looked up at her intently now, eyes wide.  even with his armor on, she could see his throat bobbing, swallowing down his nerves.  

“That settles it for me. I choose Ser Sebastian Sallow.” 

The hall descended into loud whispers; the girl holding his sigil gasped with delight, while the man behind her dropped his mouth open in shock.  Sebastian knelt, but kept his gaze fixated upon her.  It was as if the chocolate brown orbs were burning into her, somewhere between admiration and curiosity. 

Fig gave her a knowing look. “Ser Sebastian it is.”

”I’ll leave the details to Ser Sebastian’s investiture to you, Lord Fig.” the princess said, stepping down from the stool. Her heels clattered against the floor, hands folded behind her back. “And measure him for new armor.  Something befitting my sworn protector.”

”The customary armor, of course, with your sigil on the pauldron.” Fig noted.

She paused, turning one last time towards her counsel.

”Don’t forget his snakes.” She reminded him. “Silver with ruby eyes.”

Fig tried to conceal his smile. “Yes, princess.”

“You know we’re not allowed in the armory,” Poppy hissed, trying to tug on her skirt. “Lady Singer–”

“Lady Singer can kiss my arse,” the princess declared, enjoying the way her lady in waiting’s cheeks flushed. “I would like to supervise the fitting.  Will you join me?”

“I think not,” Poppy lifted her nose. “I’ll be off to the library to meet with Imelda.  You should stay out of trouble.” the brunette warned.

The princess pulled open the heavy door of the armory, grinning at her friend. “Trouble is my middle name,” she sang, waving goodbye as she entered the room.  The normally bustling armory was quiet at midday, with most of the knights standing guard.  She stepped past the rows of white cloaks, all hung under their corresponding owner’s name.  Weapons were stacked against the wall on wooden racks; she wouldn’t dare go near the spears, swords, and morningstars for fear of tipping them over.  Her slippers pattered against the flagstone floors as she walked deeper into the chamber in search of her new knight.

“There you are,” she declared, seeing him standing on the pedestal. Ser Sebastian Sallow stood in his freshly tailored white breeches and shirt, half dressed in his new gilded armor.

“Princess,” the armorer bowed his head quickly, stepping away from Sebastian. “I did not realize you were coming in to supervise the fitting.”

“Is it not tradition?” she asked, circling the pedestal with an approving nod.

“It is,” the armor rubbed his hands together anxiously. “For the king.  But you are a young lady, it’s hardly appropriate for you to be in the armory with a knight in a state of undress–”

“Ser Sebastian is my choice,” she pointed out. “So I will supervise the fitting of his armor and his sword selection, just as my uncle did for his sworn swords.”

“As you wish, princess.” The armor nodded. “I’ll fetch his sword at once.”  He bowed, walking backwards out of the room.

“Are you always so commanding?” Ser Sebastian asked, a hand on his hip.

“Only when they’re so formal.” she grinned, crossing her arms. “The armor looks good on you.”

Sebastian’s cheeks flushed. “Thank you.” he stammered. “And thank you for honoring my house.” he gestured to his pauldron, decorated with the Sallow family sigil. Instead of the crudely carved 

The armorer returned, holding a glimmering sword with a checked handle. “His sword, your grace.” he handed it to her for inspection. “I shall return shortly with his cloak; the seamstress was just finishing the hem.” He backed out of the room once more, leaving the pair alone.

The princess bobbed her head as she held the sword in her hand, testing its weight. “Good balance,” she mused, tossing it from one hand to the other.

“You’re trained with a sword?” Sebastian asked, eyebrow cocked.

She gave him a toothy grin, swinging the sword from side to side. “My uncle thought it best that I was taught the same as any other prince of the realm.” 

“I certainly agree,” Sebastian offered. “I trained my sister as best as I could before coming to the capitol.”

“Well then, should we practice for your investiture?” She asked. “On your knees, then.”

Sebastian sank to the floor, beaming up at her obediently.  He tipped his chin upwards, right hand resting over his heart. 

“Do you swear to uphold the code of the kingsguard?” she asked, trying her best to remember the vows Lord Fig had tasked her with memorizing.

“I do,” Sebastian echoed.

“Do you swear to guard the king with all your might, and give your blood for him and his heirs?” She recited the words slowly and thoughtfully.  The sword was beginning to feel heavy in her hands, but Sebastian didn’t budge.  He stayed, knelt below her on the ground, closed fist bound to his chest.

“I do.”

“Do you swear to take no wife, father no children, hold no lands? Do you swear to guard your king’s secrets, obey his commands, defend his name and honor?”

The princess blinked down at her chosen knight, hovering the blade over his shoulder. His big, brown eyes stared back at her, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.  She hadn’t noticed the freckles on his lips; then again, she’d never been so close to him before.  He looked both like a knight and a boy all at once–his armor was unfinished, missing the pauldron on his left shoulder that would bear her sigil.  Sebastian’s messy hair stuck up in the back, and the princess felt the strong urge to pat it down.

She instead remained steady, blade in hand.

“Do you swear, Ser Sebastian?” she asked.

“I swear to take no wife, father no children, nor hold any lands.  I swear to guard my queen’s secrets, obey her commands, defend her name and honor. For as long as I breathe, my life is my queen’s.” Sebastian gave her a coy look, eyes glittering with mischief; he aimed to flatter her, charming the princess with his change in verbiage.

Two could play that game, she thought. The princess lifted her sword, tapping it on both of his shoulders.  “By the grace of the future queen, I name you Ser Kiss Arse.” she declared dramatically.

Sebastian choked, and the princess laughed.  Her whole body shook with her giggles, and Sebastian pouted. 

“No fair,” he complained. “Pick a better name.”

“Fine,” she wiped a tear from her eye. Feigning composure, she straightened her posture and gave him her best queenly glare. “By the grace of the future queen, I name you Ser Freckles.”

“You’re making a mockery of it,” Sebastian whined.

“We’re practicing, remember?” She snorted. “I promise, I’ll be much more official during the actual ceremony.”

Sebastian huffed. “Fine then.  But if I get a nickname, then you get one too.” he warned. “Princess Picky is what I’ll call you.”

The princess scoffed, backing away. “Who called me picky?”

Sebastian gave her a sheepish look, rubbing the back of his neck. “Everyone at court, actually. They thought you were too picky with your requirements of the kingsguard.  The public is fairly certain you’re making a mistake in picking me as your sworn sword.” his smile faltered, a wave of doubt crashing over his face. “My family has no riches, no influence at court.  I have nothing else to offer you.”

The princess chewed her lower lip, dragging the sword behind her as she leaned down to face her knight. “It is no mistake,” she murmured, pressing a hand to his shoulder. “You are the most deserving of the title.  I chose you. And if that makes me picky, so be it.”

Sebastian touched her wrist; the gesture shocked her, eyelashes fluttering from the surprise embrace.  But she did not move her hand–the princess kept it on his uncovered shoulder, her hair falling in her face as she looked down at her sworn protector.

“Princess Picky and Ser Freckles,” Sebastian joked. “An eclectic pair.”

She gave him an earnest smile. “I’d have it no other way.”

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Raging Storm

Pairing: Dean Winchester x 18!Fem!Reader

Word Count: ~1.8k

Warnings: angst, being bullied, harsh insults, being called freak and worthless, someone wanting you to kill yourself, heartbreak

Request by anon: Hey can i request a one shot where the Winchester brothers and Castiel find out that before Michael and Lucifer go to hell they pregnant a woman that died giving birth to the reader (yn) that is the most powerful being in the existence and she is the first hybrid of all species, she is also the embodiment karma and the void, the princess of heaven and hell, the antichrist, Dean Winchester soulmate, the niece of angels and demons, descendant of the pagan gods and four horsemen of apocalypse, and more things and they need to find her because she is so powerful and she can destroy everything but in the end she is super innocent and shy girl???. with fluffy ending.

Summary: You've always been different than everyone else around you but you have no idea why. Things happen around you that you can't control or have no understanding of, but then Dean Winchester comes into your life promising to help make sense of it all.

Square Filled: window for @spnonewordbingo (deleted bingo)

Author’s Note: any and all comments are appreciated <3

x

This is the third week this month that the sky has been cloudy and gray. It’s fitting since it matches your mood. All you want to do is get through today and go home where you feel the safest. You hate it here. You’re about to graduate but it needs to come faster. You want to get out of this hellhole and away from these hellish people.

You look up and see your school in the distance with people shuffling into the building. God, I hate everyone here. You’re not even sure how it started but you walked into school one day and everyone hated you. The internet talks about bullying and how much it can ruin a person’s life, but you never knew it could get this bad.

You’re not sure why you’re getting bullied. Sure, you’re very timid and shy but you’re one of the nicest people there is. You’re sweet and friendly to everyone, but that doesn’t seem to matter to some people.

You keep your head down even when you get to school, ignoring the stares you get from some people. The first class of the day is science, which you love, but there are three people in that class that make those fifty minutes feel like hell. You take your seat in the very back by the windows when one of the most popular girls in school comes in. She is followed by her two friends who are basically puppies looking for attention.

“Look girls, the neighborhood freak is here.”

Your heart hurts at her words. You’ve always been bullied by her ever since you could remember. You two attended the same elementary school, the same middle school and junior high, and now the same high school. She’s been tormenting you ever since she knew she gained power by her words.

Maybe she senses you’re a bit different than everyone else. You certainly feel that way. Why do you feel different than everyone here? What makes you not the same as everyone else? That’s the reason why you get bullied because you don’t fit in. You don’t dress weird, have a pimply face, or are into weird things. Stacy took one look at you one day and decided you were going to be her target for as long as you let her be in power.

You haven’t found it in yourself to take that from her.

“What, have nothing to say?” she smirks and looks at her friends. “I hear her Daddy hits her while at home. Her whole family is a bunch of freaks.”

That’s not true. Your father loves you dearly. She’s just looking to stir up some drama, and the only way it’ll get worse is if you antagonize her.

“I heard takes poor defenseless animals and cuts them up,” one of Stacy’s friends says.

“You hear that, Freak? Better not get caught or else I might sic Darren and his friends on you. You wouldn’t want to end up like those animals, now would you?”

You put your head down and drown out her words with the beat of your own heart. The cloudy sky hasn’t gone away, in fact, it has gotten much darker since you’ve arrived at school. Stacy and her friends sit down next to you and gossip loud enough for you to hear every word they say.

Freak. Useless. Ugly. Burden. Waste of space. Freak. Freak. Freak. Freak. Freak. It got so much that you let your emotions get the better of you. Tears would stream down your face if you weren't in front of a bunch of people. Your heart jumps out of your chest just as all the windows in the classroom shatter around you, causing everyone to scream and back away from it. You stay seated, unsure if you did this or if something outside had caused this.

The storm clouds roll in quicker than anyone expects, and a light rain starts falling from the sky. Some of that rain comes inside but you barely feel the water on your skin. You look around at every person who seems scared of you. Maybe she’s right. Maybe you are a useless waste of space freak.

School is shut down for the day while authorities figure out what the hell happened. The rain comes down a tad harder than before but if you can get home, you can curl up in bed and pretend the world doesn’t exist.

As you’re walking, someone bumps hard enough into you that you almost go crashing to the ground.

“What did I tell you girls? She’s a super freak. Did you see what she did to those windows? How did you do that?” Stacy asks.

“Please, I just want to go home.”

“Are you a witch? A freak and a witch. God, why don’t you just go kill yourself? The world will be better off without you in it.”

“Please, just let me go home,” you beg.

“I like it when you beg,” she smirks. “Come on, bitch, beg to me like a dog.���

You’re not sure how this happened but you thought of her getting hit by lightning and then she suddenly was. She falls back in a fit of screams while everyone else but you jump out of the way to avoid getting hit. One of her friends ends up calling 911 but you’re already running away from the scene.

The rain pours down harder and lightning strikes near you to reflect how heartbroken you are. It seems like the weather follows exactly how you feel, and right now, you just want the world to swallow you whole. You don’t bother going home in fear you’ll hurt your parents. Instead, you run to the one place you feel safe outside of your own home.

“Alright, I have storms hitting New York and New Jersey, but I don’t think it’s what we’re looking for,” Sam says as he browses his laptop.

“I got a small tornado in Louisana.”

“Anything else?” Sam asks Cas.

“No.”

“Check this out,” Dean says before the group gives up hope. He turns the laptop so that the other two men can see the page he’s on. “There is a small town in Nebraska that is having rolling blackout storms like the city has never seen before, and the windows of the local high school had been shattered without anyone or anything touching it.”

“Do you think that’s her?” Sam asks.

“Gotta be. She’d be in high school by now.”

“There’s only one way to find out.”

The trio gathers everything they can before setting out to Nebraska. They’ve been tracking you ever since you were born because you’re one of the most, if not the most, powerful beings in the universe. You’re the offspring of Lucifer AND Michael when they decided to both have sex with a human woman at the same time. They manipulated their power to create one big super sperm (as Dean likes to put it) in order to create you.

You’re the Princess of Heaven and Hell, the antichrist, and the embodiment of Karma and the Void. If Dean had to guess, you don’t know just how powerful you are, and you don’t. They have to find you before you do something bad like level an entire town because you got upset over something. Your mother died by giving birth to you and your fathers went to Hell after being imprisoned in the Cage yet again.

Your foster family took you in, adopted you, and loved you with everything they got. There’s a reason why you felt so different than everyone else. You’re not human. You’re not like anyone else. You just don’t know why because you were never told what you are or taught how to be what you are.

Sam, Dean, and Castiel try to traverse the storm when they get into town. It’s gotten a lot worse and has residents fleeing from the city to seek shelter elsewhere. No one knows where this storm came from but they are preparing for the worst. The heart of the storm is where you’re at and gets lighter the further out it goes.

They track you to an abandoned farm you often go to when you want to be alone. You found this place while taking a shortcut home and made it comfortable enough for you to spend hours there. Now, you can’t find a big of comfort anywhere here.

The trio gets out of Baby and sees you outside the barn huddled on the ground. The rain is coming down in buckets but that won’t stop the Winchesters and Castiel from talking to you.

“Maybe I should go. You know, angel to half-angel,” Castiel offers.

“No, let me,” Dean says before he can stop himself. “You two stay here.”

“What? Are you crazy?!” Sam gasps.

“Sammy, I got this.” He leaves their side and approaches you slowly and carefully. You look up and see the three strange men which causes you to scoot away from them in fear. “Y/N, you’re okay!”

“Go away! I don’t know you!”

Lightning strikes the ground where Dean is, and he jumps back before he is struck. Sam wants to join his brother’s side but he knows Dean can handle this one alone. Plus, he’ll jump in if it looks like Dean is in trouble.

“Y/N, my name is Dean Winchester. I want to explain what is happening to you.”

“I don’t even know who I am!” you sob. “Go away before I hurt you!” Dean walks closer to you but you feel a sense of warmth coming from him. You can feel that he is a safe person to talk to which is why you allow him to come closer to you. “I don’t know what’s happening to me. I feel so lost. I don’t belong here. I don’t fit in!”

“Believe me, I get it. I understand how you feel.” He kneels next to you so you can see him without the rush of rain between you two. “I know what it’s like to feel alone in a room full of people. I didn't think I belonged for a long time. Sometimes, I still feel that way.”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing is wrong with you.” You fall into Dean’s arms and just cry, and he smooths down your drenched hair as a means to comfort you. “There is nothing wrong with you.”

“All I want is to be normal. I didn’t ask to be this way.”

“I know. You’re not alone, Y/N. My brother and I can help you. Castiel over there can help you. We can help you control this.” You sob into his neck uncontrollably. “You’re going to be okay.”

For some reason, you believe him, and the storm calms down just a bit both in your head and outside.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[colourstreakgryffin]

Okay here me out please....So reader leaves their beloved baby with their father Muzan for the night, because he said he can handle it....he can't the baby is everywhere, he can't take his eyes off of them for a minute without her just vanishing to somewhere else. Eventually baby get's of the infinity castle and finds herself being coddled by Yoriichi and Muzan is just.....`he's panicking and like he don't know what to do, so like eventually he has to fess up to reader that he fucked up and she has to go get the baby and she and yorrichi lightly have a conversation (roast session) about muzan and responsibility

I know this is a bit strange but please I just think it would be funny

Oh? Okay, okay! I’ll try my best with this and hey, we get to see Yoriichi again! I missed Yoriichi so thank you dearly for giving us the angel back! The angel and demon

If you don’t mind, I’ll name the kid myself since haven’t been given a name

Kibutsuji Muzan- Wondering Child

“Muzan, my love. All you need to do is watch Kuragari” You gently remark with a soft voice and a understanding tint, offering the newborn Kuragari to your husband as his blood reds scanned over both you and the cooing baby. Muzan scoffed under his breath at the rather easy task you given him, watch his own biological infant. He could do it blindfolded and with one arm tied to his back

The moment you walked out of the room, Muzan immediately plopped the blood red-eyed baby into his cute little playcrib as he sat down, right before Kuragari in his playarea, to pick up a nearby abandoned novel to skim through the hefty pages and pinpoint the chapter he was at. He took his eyes of the boy for only a minute or so when he realised the lack of cooing and giggling was concerning, looking up. His heart drooped in concern

He’s gone? He’s gone?! Where did he go?! He’s a baby! How is he gone already?!

Muzan almost panicked as he shot up from his comfortable plush armchair and frantically checked every nook and cranny of the spacious room for Kuragari with some… or more, all furniture thrown at the walls along the way, no success further alarmed him. How is a few months year old already more fidgety and energetic than a bumbling four year old

Muzan ended up almost destroying the entire Infinity Castle in search for a single small demon. He truly had no clue where that bouncing newborn could be and the only reason he had a decent clue was because a number of trees leading down a specific dirt path, once transported out of the Infinity Castle, had the same fang-like bite marks in them. As if a baby animal was teething on the trunks

Perfect

The King of Demons couldn’t be anymore thankful that time itself had given him a shred of mercy and averted the sky to pitch black so the glowing moon would shower cool moonlight down on his dead white complexion. His slight relief was cut short when he finally found the source of sudden familiar giggling, he knew that voice belonged to his son so he followed it

And what he saw terrified him as he definitely had his hands too tied to be able to take action

That… that bastard, Tsugikuni Yoriichi holding his precious baby boy in his lap as Kuragari happily rose his cute tiny hands up to touch Yoriichi’s much bigger, calloused palms. The monstrous human had a very shocked expression on his face as his plum reds looked ready to swell up in tears, his heart touched by the Prince of Demons being so sweet and playful, despite being the enemy

Muzan knew very well he couldn’t intervene at all as the last time he hardly butted heads with that Yoriichi. He only got away with one single strand of his entire being left, it was far too close for his comfort though, he knew he also needed to get his beloved Kuragari back. The only solution that came to his head was you, the boy’s mother

You were a human, just like Yorichi. You could get the boy back, no problem. Unlike Muzan himself

Cemented on his meticulous plan to get his baby back from that beast, Muzan rushed back to the Infinity Castle at his top speed and seemingly arrived in the same room you stood before, just in the nick of time to greet you. “Greetings, my love. Where’s Kuragari?” You ask softly and almost immediately, out of concern as Muzan flinches guilty, sighing out to try relieve him of the stress. He should just tell you, no need to lie or gaslight you into believing such nonsense

“You know that beast, Tsugikuni. He has stolen our son. I only took my eyes off him for a minute, if not two and he was gone, I luckily tracked him down by the teeth marks on trees but I cannot get him back, you know” You sighed displeased, part of you knew this simple task would end in absolute disaster but since you loved the clueless demons, you just flashed a sweet, gentle smile and took his hand encouragingly

“Let’s go find our Kuragari then, my dear”

Laughing joyfully with your precious Kuragari sat on your lap, fiddling and pulling on the lengthy ends of your haori to entertain himself and satisfy his curiosity. You were perched on the open wooden edge-skirt of the homely Minka belonging to the one and only swordsman that ruled the battlefield with a platinum fist, Yoriichi himself. The same Yoriichi who apparently ‘stole’ your son but you got the actual picture from Yoriichi and it made you realise your husband is no where near competent with childcare

“I found this one crawling around my backyard. I don’t know how he got there but he seemed to have travelled miles and was hungry, he kept biting at everything” Every word that human man said felt very genuine and you weren’t ever gonna try deny that him and his statements were

His explanation of the situation made much more sense than what Muzan proclaimed happened, such a weird one nevertheless. Yoriichi didn’t even know your son existed in the first place, why would he go after him?

Needless to say… you and Yoriichi spent almost a hour trading innocent insults at Muzan and his so-called parenting style. You didn’t really hate your husband, he actually tried and took responsibility by telling you about losing him but he should always be watching Kuragari, the newborn should never left alone not had eyes taken off him for even a minute and somebody like Yorichi, who lost his soon-to-be-born child to a demon, knows that

You have learnt to never entrust Kuragari to Muzan, you will just have to go to Yoriichi instead

[nxzomia-blog]

Twisted Faith | Hades!Sukuna and Reader!Persephone

Rating: Explicit | R-18

Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Kidnapping

Genre: Fantasy, Mythology

Total Chapters: 1/3

Authors Note: as much as I think Persephone and Hades’s relationship to be wholesome (minus the kidnapping) I decided on a more twisted version of the myth Inspired by earlier dates of the story being told (cuz I love cruel sukuna) | also, I’m not using Y/N in the story sorry not sorry

Minors and Ageless profiles will be blocked

• Chapter 1 | Unprepared Queen •

Eternal spring | Prologue

You were roaming around the gardens humming happily Around the flowers,you were known as “Kore the goddess of spring” spending your time talking to the animals or playing with the flowers you enjoying everything around you.

Your mother “Demeter the goddess of harvest and fertility” was Protected of you, you loved your mother dearly

But one day The golden age of spring will come to an end

You were roaming around the gardens one day picking up flowers quietly, humming a tune as you walked up to talk to the animals, but something felt odd

The animals started running as you turned around and look to see what happened a opening circling around it with fire Was around the flowers, burning them at once many animals ran away from the fire as hellhound dogs emerged from the fire before a tall man came after, he had pinkish hair, four eyes, crimson eyes, and tattoos around his face. His eyes were focused on you.

Before you can even run to inform your mother he grabs you by the arm tightly

“Who Are You?! What do you want for me?” You screamed.

The man laughed as you screamed

“Who am I Sweetheart? It should be painfully obvious by now, girl…”

As you took one more look you start to realize who the man is

“Ryōmen Sukuna the King of the Underground also known as Hades,”

You have heard many stories of him from your mother but you have many questions on your mind. Why is he here and why is he specifically looking for you?

“Aww you finally realize who I am?” He chuckles. “Well girl to make you understand, You’re going to be my wife, my queen, my property So say goodbye to your happy place”

He laughed as you were forced simply taken to the opening of fire, taking you to the underground screaming begging him to let you go closing the opening as soon as you both went inside

Meanwhile Demeter saw as many animals were running before she know it she was looking all over the gardens looking for you

“KORE WHERE ARE YOU??”

After a while she realize the circle of dead grass making her to realize that her daughter has been kidnapped

This will begin the Eternal Winter

[breannasfluff]

The absence of Four has Wild sticking even closer to Legend and Hyrule. He loves them dearly, but his instincts call for a flock.

Hyrule is perfectly happy to attach himself to Wild like an octorok. Prying him off becomes harder and harder. Legend and Wild end up sacrificing each other to escape. They don’t really need much. Wild’s got plenty of food and games in his slate and Wind brings meals from Malon. Sky doesn’t come again, probably wrapped up with Four.

“Can you tell me more about nesting?” Wild stares at his hand of cards without really seeing them.

“What do you want to know?” Legend plays one and Hyrule clicks his teeth.

“Anything? I don’t—well, I don’t remember. And I was so busy on my journey that I didn’t stay in one spot. I don’t think I remember anyone nesting?”

Legend nudges the traveler to go for his turn. “Probably not. Nesting means hunkering down somewhere safe and comfortable. Most passerines do it at home. Let’s see…well, we have Nesting season like the seabirds have Migration or the raptors have Hunting.”

Wild’s frown deepens. He’ll have to ask the flock about that later.

“It’s usually triggered by other birds and when we feel safe,” the bowerbird continues. “So, yeah, it makes sense you wouldn’t during your journey.”

“I nested with my Zelda,” Hyrule pipes up. “We aren’t a flock, but we trust each other.”

“Nesting in the castle? Nice.”

The thrasher’s laugh is mostly trill, melodic as always. “Honestly, I rather be in a loft like this than buried in mounds of lace and silks. She’s got the other Zelda now, so it’s not really a problem.”

Right, Hyrule’s adventure ended with two princesses instead of one.

“So nesting is triggered because I’m with you?” Wild asks.

“Probably. All passerines are a little different, depending on their instincts. Hyrule here,” a nudge, “wants his pair birds and no one else. Four is happy with anyone. What about you?”

“Ah…” Wild’s fiddles with his cards. They are no longer playing, caught up in conversation. “I’m more like Four…I guess? I’m fine with other birds in the nest. Obviously not the raptors but…” he trails off.

What does he want? What is he missing? What was nesting like for him Before? What about when this ends and he has to go home? Zelda isn’t a nesting bird, despite being social enough.

“Open-nest or closed-nest,” Legend says. “Anyway, sometimes it’s being around other flock birds, but usually it hits in the fall time. It gets colder and the days get longer. We want to tuck away somewhere warm.”

A question sits on the tip of his tongue, too embarrassing to ask. Legend can read him like an open book and nudges him. “Spit it out.”

“I don’t want—chicks. And it’s not springtime. So what’s the point…”

Hyrule breaks the silence with giggles that turn into a waterfall of chirps. Legend joins in, eyes dancing. There’s nothing malicious so Wild swats at them, wings fluffing.

“I’m sorry! It’s just—we aren’t actual birds!” Hyrule wheezes for air. “Sure, some instincts are similar, but we’re hylian, too.”

“By the Three,” Legends says. “Can you imagine what it would be like if we were real birds? No, thank you. Secondary instincts are bad enough.”

Wild’s ears are burning. “You don’t have to laugh that hard.”

“Nesting is about resting,” the bowerbird continues, taking pity on his flockmate. Hyrule still giggles, wiping at his eyes. “Like animals hibernating? It’s a built-in instinct to settle down and relax for a bit. Recharge and bond with your flock. Spend time with family.”

That…makes a lot more sense. 

Read the rest here!

[ravenstargames]

✦ Lost in Limbo Devlog #5 | 08.31.23

August is OVER and that means a brand-new Lost in Devlog!!! ��� We are very excited for September to begin because that will definitely mark a new era of Lost in Limbo's production as the whole team will be finally free of the shackles of the spanish education system!

This devlog contains mainly progress in the programming and writing department (yours truly in charge), but we have also made some progress in the art department.

In addition, we will use this devlog to discuss a few changes and decisions we have taken in regards to the course of the demo—so feel free to grab a drink and join us for the ride!

First and foremost...A glimpse of our main menu! 🎉💜 I have been working hard this month to implement the UI as we finally got the files, and I've also animated and programmed the main menu screen, the configuration screen, save/load, etc. The dialogue box and everything else is also implemented and working perfectly, and of course we have a custom cursor thanks to miss Raquel! 🎉

Needless to say, LiL is my first coding adventure, so I'm sure our code isn't perfect or in optimal condition, but hopefully our Kickstarter will allow us to hire a programmer to fix that. I think I've done a pretty good job considering my lack of experience!

Also, special thanks (again) to our dearly beloved @crescencestudio for bearing with me and graciously lending a hand when I struggled the most. They are officially my ren'py mentor and I'd like to take a moment to illustrate our my struggle to y'all with a simple screenshot:

(Also it's kind of funny we both have animal crossing pics in our discord accounts, that was ✨ a coincidence ✨)

<<Inside the holy judgement chamber of the Silver Spire, may your words carry only truth, lest punishment is what you seek.>>

This month our dear Raquel has been working on backgrounds when she's had a moment, and this is one of the pieces she has been rendering and polishing! We'll also take a look at another background (a really important one) to bring it up to our new standards. As I said in another devlog, the master degree we were (and still are, until the 15th) attending has changed our way of seeing and approaching art pieces, so we are looking into improving pieces that are still in the making!

First of all; we are super proud and happy to welcome a new member to the team of Ravenstar Games: Allie! They'll be our editor and proofreader, and I'm sure you know and love some projects she's been on, like Blooming Panic! or our recent and beloved Intertwine. They are a fantastic fantastic writer, an incredible person and a passionate dev that I've had the pleasure to know and work with for a while now, and I would trust no one else with the script of our baby! (and if you are a writer, you know how hard it is to let others read your stuff sometimes. It's like baring your soul to them; it could only be Allie for me!) So please give them a big warm welcome!!

For the writing department, some devlogs ago we talked about the script suffering some changes—well, they have officially solidified now!

We have cut some content that was not exactly relevant for the first experience we want y'all to have with the game. A lot of context and exposition that helps, but is not absolutely necessary to enjoy what is perhaps the most important thing for an indie team and their game; the first demo and the impression it leaves behind. That content has not been scraped and we have decided to save it for an extended demo; the first demo will still be as long as it was in the beginning, as a lot of new content has also been added to prioritize the LIs, which is what you are here for.

We also made this decision because we were once more faced with the reality of: there's only four of us and it's not realistic to do seven LIs + six supporting characters + their expression charts + 13 backgrounds + everything else for a first demo. We are learning as we go, for better or worse, and sometimes you have to sit back and say "right. this is not going to work" so we had to do that. Sadly, we were not realistic with what we wanted to do, but hey, we all get too excited and dream too big sometimes!

This changes will ensure you get the best first experience with LiL without losing important, meaningful content, and hopefully be excited for what will come later. In my humble opinion, the demo script is now in much better shape than it was a month ago. Trust. And just wait for Allie to edit it—that's going to bring it to perfection.

Oh! We'll also be modifying the Masterpost soon as some things are a bit outdated and can be improved, so expect to see some new stuff in there!

It's 1 am here right now as I write this. I'm in bed. Today has been a day. Tomorrow I'll take a look at this and correct a million typos. See? Another reason we need Allie with us. There's screenshots to take, videos to make, and everything is slowly coming together. We are in really good spirits, motivated and hopeful for the near future. This has been long enough as it is, so as always, thank you for being part of Lost in Limbo's journey, and for the love and kindness you give us again and again. We hope you all are doing great, staying hydrated, and taking care of yourself 💜 See you very very soon!!

[jay-arts-t]

Going off of this post,

Sometimes I wonder if John knew that Logan was different. Mutants weren't nearly as common back then, or if they were it was more hush hush than out in the open. Were they less ostracized, no I'm certain they were probably killed and/or brutalized just as much, just by different means. But I wonder if John knew, Logan has animalistic traits because of his mutation, surely he would've noticed certain attributes. Maybe he caught his eyes glowing in the dark from the reflective lenses that nocturnal animals have. Maybe he chalks it up to a study that claims people with blue eyes can see better in the dark, and that what he saw was just a trick of the light from the candle he was holding. Maybe he started to know when Logan bonded to an abnormal degree with the housecat, or if they had horses, or really any animal. Every time they encountered deer on a hike they'd always come up to Logan and let him pet them. Or maybe he noticed when Logan would hug him whenever he'd come back from business trips and the boy would rub his face against his shirt, trying to cover himself in his father's scent as some form of comfort that John can't really understand. Maybe it was the way that Logan could guess what was cooking for dinner from a mile off, even if they were upwind. Or how he was impeccable at hide and seek when he was little. All it took was a big gulp of air and he'd be honing in on finding Rose, or Dog, or if John humored him he'd always find him first.

I wonder if John ever confided in Elizabeth in it. If he laid beside her staring up at the canopy covering the four poster bed and finally decided to ask her if she thought their son was something more than human. If she'd huff, or scoff in distaste and flippantly tell him she didn't care. John would deflate and remind himself that yes, she truly didn't care about their youngest son, and it'd be an indirect jab at the sore wound of them losing their firstborn son, John Jr.

Finally he'd take it to studying, if this was an actual thing or not. I wonder if he would've discovered Mr. Sinister's studies, if there were any scholarly published when he still went by Dr. Nathaniel Essex. And when he came across the classifications of homosuperior if he connected the dots and recognized his son as one of them.

And when he digested that he has a mutant son, I wonder if he started to pick up when things were too much for Logan, or bought him things that would please the animalistic side to him that his mutation gave. After opening his mind to the fact that the son he loves so dearly is classified as a whole new species then I think he'd become pretty open minded about most things. He knows his son, he loves his son dearly, and he wants him to be happy. I think he made it very obvious, and that's why it's so devastating to Logan when he witnesses his murder. He knows that his father is the one man who would have his back no matter what.

I don't know if John would be proud of Logan. I think Logan has done so much he hasn't wanted to do or felt needed to be done despite his own reservations that it's impossible to say that anyone would be 100% proud of him. Not even Logan is proud of himself, it's not something he's able to be. He's confident in his abilities, and it's constantly validated by the fact that the Weapon X program chose him and changed him to be an ultimate weapon, and went as far as to clone him multiple times- and clone his clones, in order to achieve their goal. It's twisted, as most things are concerning Logan. Though I think John would hurt for his son, no matter how he felt towards the man his boy became. I think he would still see the boy he left behind and all of the pain he'd endured without John there to protect him. Maybe he would feel guilty, and feel the same as Logan feels- like he betrayed him, like he abandoned him, like he was too weak to stay alive.

Logan has met his biological father in hell. He's heard him say the words, "I'm proud of you" but being told by Thomas Logan, a man who is so cruel, who raised his son Dog into a rapist, who was probably one himself, who wanted to use Logan in order to rule hell, tell him that he's proud? That's not a good thing. That's not the man Logan wants to be. He doesn't want to be James Logan, son of Thomas Logan. He wants to be James Logan Howlett, someone who can recognize his lineage, but someone who rejects it and tries to be better like the father who he's proud of.

If he ever gets the chance to see John Howlett Sr in the comics, which I don't know if he'll be able to. I think that whole arc is probably super cut off considering Nightcrawler's sacrifice for heaven and for the fact that I doubt for all the good John Sr seemed to be that he would've ended up in hell. Anyway- IF he got to see him again, I don't think John would tell him that he's proud, because he's not, and Logan knows that someone being proud of him for the things he can do isn't a good thing. He knows he's not a good person despite all he tries to be, and he's at least acknowledged that. John would tell him something much more important, and much more relevant, he'd tell him "I love you" and that's all Logan would ever need to hear. To still have that comfort that his father, who isn't really his father but was the only father he's known, still loves him despite everything he's done, and everything he's become, it would both break him and heal him. It's not just something he wants, it's something he needs.

[ghoulish-fiction]

For those of you who like my "ghouls are a human and a demon smashed into one" headcannon, here's some notes copy and pasted from my notes app. Its a list of ghouls, in no particular order, and what I think becoming a ghoul was like for them and what theyre like now. Kinda. Very much subject to change. Cut for length. Enjoy byyyyeeee. ✌🤟🖤

Dewdrop: early on the human and fire had an incredibly hard time adjusting, so water had to be in charge. She took good care of them all, but she grew exhausted. Human and fire have finally been able to step up and have meshed nicly. They are waiting for water to be ready to join them. They are thankful to her for what she did for them. 

Aether: human and quint were so compatible and so enamored with eachother that they became one in record time, and their love for eachother, for themself, for their life, has spilled out into their pack. This is why Aether is a lover, healer, protecter because he is a love story. (I wrote this a few days ago and now i kinda hate it idk)

Rain: half joined with human being the more dominant personality most of the time, can be a bit moody because of this. Water is very powerful and lustful. Human shares this hunger but doesnt know how to act on it so they gladly let water take control and sate their needs and desires. This applies to the bedroom and the hunting grounds. On stage, its all human. He loves the spot light. Its what he's always wanted to do. 

Phantom: not as young and dumb as everyone paints him to be. He is young though. But also insanely powerful. His youth and sweet personality decieve people. He joined with an absolute power house of a demon. The demon was so powerful that the poor guy almost didnt make it. His body lay comatose for a while. In that time however, the two beings grew to know eachother completely and soon became one. So when he awake, transition was easy mentally, but challenging physically. He's extremely confident and comfortable with himself.

Cirrus and Cumulus: they have always been a package deal in my mind idk why. So they are two humans who were in love who joined with two demons who were in love. They are both half joined like Rain, but Cirrus tends be lead by the demon, while Cumulus tends to be lead by the human. But really its a toss up of who is at the wheel at any given. This is why either of them can have some wild mood swings from time to time. They are a two person polycule.

Phil: demon doesnt have elemental powers but his inherent power is strong, but he is like never around. Just kinda there for the ride. So human takes the lead. That's why Phil is very much just a dude lol.

Swiss: a rare creature indeed. Human, quint, fire, and air. The three demons were part of a large pack, but tragedy struck. In the end there was only the three of them left, with air barely hanging on. They took a last ditch effort and sought to become a ghoul to save air, it was the only way. They were a package deal because they refused to lose anybody else and because air would need their strength. The ritual was sucessful, and all four parties made it. They all bonded easily into one, making our beloved Swiss. His air powers are very subtle because air would never fully recover. 

Swiss is so very dedicated to his pack and insistant on having a good relationship with everyone because of the demons past, but the human had strong feelings about family before too. (I kinda hate this even more than Aether's idk)

Mountain: the human and the demon met accidentally on a fine summer day. The human was out foraging when they saw strange tracks. They thought it was an injured animal, so they tracked the animal with the hope of finding it and helping it. What they found though, was a demon. The demon was longing for its old simple human life. It was exploring the surface, admiring the world they so had so dearly loved, thinking it was far from humans. The two came to know eachother well and decided to join together. Fully joined into one but it was a very long process. They let it happen naturally.

[dearfabulousdarling]

Love for Family, Animal Patterns, and the Tears That Come With Them

In my earlier post of mine I shared that the dam broke and I was crying over the finale of Witch from Mercury.  I was reading posts from /u/, the yuri board on 4chan, earlier today when I saw this comment about how Suletta may have sewed the bunny onto Elnora's cardigan sweater.

It made me reflect on how parents that adore the things given to them by their children they'll keep it and if it's meant to worn, they'll wear it. The more I thought about it the more I realized that Elnora always loved Suletta very much. What loving parent wouldn't want to wear the things their child makes for them? That was what started to cause me to tear up and get dry in my mouth. She really does love Suletta dearly at the end of it all. I know that people may think or have thought that Elnora as Prospera either wanted to use Suletta, she was outright evil, or didn't love her as much as Eri. I think Miorine had a very strong part in helping Elnora leave her Prospera facade behind and love Suletta truly as family just as Suletta loves her. I would like to think that it was Elnora was a bit handy with crafts and made Eri's bunny backpack ultimately leading to either her or Suletta painting the white bear on Suletta's space helmet:

Notice how all three of these: the bunny cardigan, bear space helmet, and bunny backpack have three dots making up their face (the bunny backpack has four but the layout for the eyes and nose are the same)? I believe then that Suletta once she recovered enough dexterity in her hands she made that that black bunny and sown it into her mom's cardigan sweater. It's a way for Suletta to bring her mom joy for cute things that Elnora gave to Eri and Suletta. So yeah, ruminating about how at the end of it all that love absolutely prevailed both romantic and familial I broke and started thinking about all of the characters I hold dear and have built up immense care for them especially Suletta, her family, Miorine, Earth House, and the world around them throughout the series. It's made me weepy all day. To wrap things up that if you have a parent or guardian you love and they love you, make them something to keep or even wear whatever it maybe. They will adore it. Love your parents/guardians who love you back and if they're a bit misguided try to help them. I hope someday we see more with this family but for now I am happy and will miss the family of Suletta, Miorine, Elnora, and Eri as they are now together under one roof and one love.

Source: https://twitter.com/767676na/status/1675496739678334977

[animebw]

Short Reflection: Kaguya-Sama: The First Kiss That Never Ends

I have never quite understood the hype behind Kaguya-sama.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great show. Actually, strike that; it's a fantastic show. It's one of the most consistently funny comedies of the past few years, and its clever character work and outrageous animation are more than deserving of their high praise. But whenever I hear people calling it the best rom com of all time, all I can think is, "Wow, y'all really are so young that you've never heard of Toradora, huh?" Never mind Kimi ni Todoke, Ore Monogatari, and countless other spectacular shoujo rom coms that people are all too quick to forget even exist. I love Kaguya-sama dearly, but I've never quite felt comfortable ranking it among the best of the best like so many others do.

At least, not until I watched this movie.

Now, though? I understand completely.

See, the reason I never rated this show as highly as other people is because to me, Kaguya and Shirogane's romance is the least interesting part of it all. Even after season 3 finally made me give a damn about them officially hooking up as a couple, Kaguya-sama is always at its most interesting to me when it's focused on anything other than its title character. Chika's insane wild card antics, Hayasaka's perfectly deadpan straight man routine, Ishigami's bizarrely endearing blend of misanthropy and sincerity... Kaguya's supporting cast has always been its biggest draw for me. Kaguya and Shirogane aren't bad by any means, and they've had plenty of great moments between them. But most of the time when Kaguya-sama is playing at being a straight romance, it just doesn't connect with me as strongly as it's trying to.

And that's why The First Kiss That Never Ends is so phenomenal. Because after four years of show, it finally, finally made me fall in love with the main romance of Kaguya-sama. After all this time, I get why these two crazy kids are so special to so many people. I get why countless adoring fans consider this their favorite rom com, even if it's still not my personal best. No longer am I standing on the sidelines in mild confusion; I am officially a full throated Kaguya-sama stan at last. And in accomplishing this feat, this movie finally helped me understand why these two weren't clicking for me before... and how I may not have been giving this show as much credit as it deserved.

You see, one of the central tropes in Kaguya-sama's romance is a trope that I have more bad experiences with than I can count: the Ice Queen. Kaguya is a frigid, closed-off girl who must learn to open her heart and be honest about her feelings over the course of the show. It's a character type I've seen a lot, and it's a character type that is dangerously easy to fuck up. Because if you don't treat this kind of story with care, it can very easily come off like the story sees her as a haughty bitch who needs to learn her place, stop being so stuck up, and let a man sweep her into his arms. And considering how many hang-ups a lot of male anime writers clearly have about writing female characters... yeah, let's just say I have enough nightmares of this trope being done wrong to last a lifetime.

And Kaguya's not even a bad example of the trope! She's always been a very well handled character, even as far back as season 1. But one always had this uncertainty in the back of my mind: how aware is this show of the gendered nature of the tropes it's playing with? There are countless times where either the narrator or the characters will make some sweeping statement about what girls are like, or what boys are like, or how relationships between men and women are "supposed" to work. And while they're always presented so absurdly that no rational person could take them seriously, it's never quite clear how unseriously we're supposed to take them. Cause, like... there's a lot of these moments for them to not be indicative of something.

So that's where I've been at with Kaguya the Ice Queen. A very loaded, very gendered trope in a series that has a very unclear stance of loaded, gendered tropes. Was it trying to say something? Did it have some grand thesis about the harmful nature of gendered expectations waiting in the wings? Or like so many anime before it, was it just uncritically parroting the same old tired expectations for good little boys and girls? Looking back, this was the sword of Damacles hanging over my head as I've watched and enjoyed Kaguya-sama, the uncertainty that kept me from opening my heart to it fully. Whether I could fully put it into words or not, I couldn't get past that question: is this show yet another victim of sexist stereotypes it doesn't fully understand?

Thank god, then, that The First Kiss Never Ends had finally proven the answer to be no.

Yes, if you thought the aftermath of Kaguya and Shirogane's first kiss was going to be smooth sailing for these two neurotic messes, you clearly don't know what show you're watching. They've taken the biggest step forward imaginable and brought their relationship right to the precipice of being official. Victory is so close they can taste it, but with that comes a terror the likes of which they've never felt before. Suddenly the reality of what their lives are about to become crashes up against their long standing hang-ups about love and self worth, and their mutual fear over thinking they aren't yet living up to the standard of what a Person In A Relationship is supposed to be leads to the biggest rift in their relationship yet. Neither understands what the other wants from them- hell, they don't even understand what they want from themselves. Which means after so many mental battles and false starts, it's time for Shirogane and Kaguya to rip off their masks and face each other's true selves once and for all, even if they can't bear the answers they think are waiting in the other's gaze.

And yes, in exposing themselves so completely, it makes clear just how inexorably their issues are bound up in gender. Kaguya's so obsessed with playing out the script of the submissive lady who lets the man make all the first moves that her spiraling self-loathing ends up hurting everyone who tries to get close to her. Miyuki's so wrapped up in the need to prove himself manly enough to be worthy of Kaguya that he loses the ability to connect with her on her own terms. And when these two deeply flawed approaches to romance collide with the heightened tension of two dumb kids desperate not to fuck everything up, they feed into each other in the worst way.

In other words, what this movie proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is that Kaguya-sama fully understands the importance of leaving gender roles behind. The final boss of this show isn't just the inescapable fear of knowing and being known; it's also, explicitly, how that fear is made worse by gendered expectations that leave lost kids flailing in an attempt to live up to unhealthy notions of love and companionship. It's the kind of misunderstanding plot that actually makes sense and leaves you agonized because of how well it understands why their wires are getting crossed, as opposed to agonized because the writers are clearly dragging things out tortuously to avoid progressing the plot an inch further. For Kaguya and Shirogane to truly overcome their issues, they must leave behind their notions of who they're supposed to be, how they're supposed to act, and see each other as the people they are. Not a girl and guy following a pre-written script, but two complex human beings who make each other's lives that much brighter for being in them.

And in retrospect, that's always been what Kaguya-sama is about, hasn't it? All of this show's best non-comedic moments have been when it takes an ax to a restrictive gendered trope and lets the character behind it fly free. Miko's introductory arc was all about Shirogane realizing that this girl most people dismissed as a naggy bitch in need of an ego check was in fact one of the most passionate, dedicated people in the school, and doing his damndest to give her a chance to speak her truth. And hey, remember how Ishigami's rise from Reddit-pilled loner to someone who can embrace his place in the world without feeling like an incel involved him dressing in drag and feeling happy doing so? When you look back at the whole picture, Kaguya-sama has always been about breaking free of gendered expectations, in ways both big and small. And now that we've reached the climax of Kaguya and Shirogane's arc, it's finally time for them to break free just the same.

And my god, it is spectacular. It's an emotional payoff to years of slow-burn character work that makes look back and realize just how fucking good it’s been at laying the foundation for this moment. It bares Kaguya and Shirogane’s souls like never before, and it took me from being nominally interested in their antics to openly weeping over their attempts to understand each other. This isn't just a beautiful finale that washes away all my concerns, it's made me appreciate everything this show was doing so wonderfully before that I was too uncertain to pick up on. At last, I can see that Kaguya-sama is as incredible as everyone says. It is genuinely a masterpiece of rom com storytelling. It's an uproarious, beautiful tale about the importance of living true to yourself, even when you feel like yourself is something to run away from. And if this movie is the last part of the manga to be adapted, then it's as perfect a conclusion as I could hope for.

It's not a perfect movie overall, to be fair. It pretty much skips over an Ishigami/Miko subplot it starts building up, and there are points in the middle where the lighting is so dark it's almost impossible to see what's going on. Which is a weird misstep for a series that's always had such a strong visual identity. But as a climax to this war of hearts and minds that finally made me care about those hearts and minds, it's an unimpeachable triumph. The First Kiss That Never Ends made me believe the hype at last, and I can't wait to join the rest of the world in preaching the glories of the series it caps off so wonderfully. And I give it a score of:

9/10

Thank you all for reading. Here's holding out hope for season 4!

[crittercrossing]

Return from another unannounced hiatus... four years later! With big updates and a blog revival

Well... sometimes, time gets away from you. Anyway, it's Blaze here, and I'm glad to be back.

I've had this pet blog for, I think, 11 years now, and it hasn't been updated in over four years. I left off here pretty early into the start of the pandemic. I didn't mean to abandon the blog with no notice, but life was... like that, and I just didn't have it in me for a while to keep up with taking, editing, and posting photos.

That being said, I'm reviving this blog because I really miss sharing photos and stories about my pets. I realize now how important it is to me to share with the world how much I love these little guys.

So, starting now, I'm going to be regularly posting here again (to the best of my ability) with lots of photos! There will be a good mixture of things that I consider my "real camera photography" and silly phone photos.

I have some brief updates I want to go over here, though there will also be individual update posts on each animal soon.

(Content warning below the cut: pet loss and illness, though not discussed in extreme detail.)

Cats: My best friend, Smokey, passed away in 2021. It's been over three years now, and the pain is still with me every single day. I see now that I was closer to him than to any other animal in my entire life so far. After he passed, Violet was my only cat. I had only posted about Violet a few times when I was last active here, and I have a lot to share about her in her own post. She's probably the second-closest cat friend I've ever had, and I am savoring every single moment I get to spend with her because she has terminal cancer and it is really unclear how much time she has left. Three semi-feral cats appeared, hung around, and then passed away and/or disappeared during the hiatus: Shadow, Artemis, and The Void. Two more semi-feral cats appeared, who are still hanging around and doing very well: Leonard and Tree. Both are pretty tame now, both were neutered, and Tree may very well join me indoors someday. And, though I kind of thought I may never have another house cat for years after losing Smokey, I made two more indoor cat friends in 2021: Dorothea and Ivy. They are lovable disasters and I can't wait to start sharing more about them regularly.

Dogs: Katy, Chevelle, and my mom's dog Holly are all still around and doing moderately well, given that Katy and Holly are now old, and Chevelle is solidly middle-aged.

Chickens: I've lost most of my chickens within the past four years. Jamal, Jesse, Miah, Ezekiel, Sheba, Mahalia, Mykerion, and Jamie are all gone now. JD and Willow are the only two chickens from pre-hiatus that are still around, and both are extremely old, but doing pretty well. I have two new chickens since then, two sons of JD's, named Dominic and Jakob. Having three roosters and one hen is far from an ideal setup, but everyone is getting along relatively well. Additionally, due to my current living situation and my planned near future change in living situation, I'm just not able to get more chickens for the foreseeable future, which I am really sad about. But, I will keep my fingers crossed that someday, I can have chickens again in the future!

Rabbits: I am sad to say that I no longer have any rabbits. Bruce passed away in 2021. In 2020, a few months after the hiatus began, I took in a young rabbit named Jersey. He passed away in 2023. Due to my living situation and other complicating circumstances, I decided that now isn't a good time to have any more rabbits. I love rabbits dearly, and would love to have more in the future.

So, here's to a new future for my silly little blog for my photography hobby and the love I have for these silly little critters.

[ratlesshonret]

The (few) things I didn’t like about Pocket Mirror ~ GoldenerTraum

 Okay. First off, I want to state that I LOVE this game. Dearly. Deeply. Favorite game of all time, tied with several others. However, that doesn’t mean it’s completely immune to criticism or that I have to praise every single decision that was made during the development, or ignore significant immersion issues. I love things, and part of that love is critique.

 Just to make it clear, this post is being made out of genuine love and admiration for both this game and the team behind it. This is in no way meant to be a hate post about the game, but I will be expressing things I found while playing that I’d consider issues.

 With that out of the way, let’s start with the big ones. Also, there will be spoilers ahead.

There’s a major audio syncing bug during the “chalk” scene before Harpae’s theater. My theory as to why this issue exists is because they changed the scene slightly, but did not update the music. I understand if the devs either were unwilling or unable to redo the music for this scene, but it’s majorly immersion breaking to have the sound of glass shattering be separated by an entire several seconds from the associated visual.

Mashing through text is SLOW. For a game that expects you to play several times to see every ending, there sure is no fast text option that I could find. Even mashing four buttons at once for frame-perfect dialogue skipping, it’s still slow. Scenes like Enjel’s Theater especially suffer from this, with it basically being a full six minutes even when mashing as fast as possible.

This one is more of a personal thing, but I was hoping at least some scenes would be slightly rewritten. Some of the dialogue is very stilted and odd, with some questionable punctuation choices as well. Harpae’s area is especially bad. I get that the conversations being cyclical and neither of them wanting the other to take blame for anything is thematic, but it is a bit annoying to sit through basically the same conversation over and over again.

Finally, the game is still kinda buggy. I know the team has worked super hard to patch the game several times, and I’m really thankful. I know it’s difficult to fix bugs, I really do. But encountering a softlock even after the “softlock fix” update, and other random issues, makes the game discouraging to play sometimes.

 And now, for the minor nitpicks.

Sprites. My biggest example of this is the scene where Harpae slaps Goldia. The handprint on Goldia’s face that was present in the original immediately after is completely missing. Also, in Enjel’s Theater, there’s no longer a unique “mouth zipped” sprite for Enjel, DESPITE THAT SPRITE EXISTING ON GOLDIA IN THE WITCHING HOUR ENDING. This one genuinely makes the scene less coherent, as Enjel’s mouth getting sewn up is the focal point of the scene.

Less impactful choices. The two I can think of here are both in Lisette’s area, with the “Accept or Protect” choice, and the “Help Me?” choice. In the former, it used to be a screen-wide filter was applied, and the text that you were choosing between was large and stylized to cover most of the screen. In the latter, you had to physically stand over your dialogue option. I understand if the engine doesn’t support these “special” dialogue choices, but replacing them with just normal choice boxes is a bit disappointing.

I am glad for the removal of two of the ballroom scenes, as they slowed pacing to a halt, but it’s still sad to lose content. I don’t really have a solid complaint here, I’m just reminiscing.

Another “not really a complaint” I have is the theaters. I understand that it’d be insanely hard to re-animate every single theater, but I was also hoping they’d be at least slightly touched up beyond just higher resolution. At the very least, changing them to reflect the character’s new designs would be nice.

Fleta’s voice clips being the only ones not redone is kinda annoying since she easily had some of the most insufferable sounds to listen to. Again, I don’t know what the team’s situation regarding that was, and I also don’t wanna shade her original VA, it’s just strange that hers weren’t redone. Though I suppose her being annoying is kinda the point.

 I think that’s about it for now. I know some of these were just things carried over from the original that I hoped were changed, but my most pressing issues are the things that were removed or broken between the transition from original to remaster. I don’t know if the team simply decided these elements were unimportant, or they didn’t have time to redo it all, or (and I’m not saying this is the likely possibility) they simply didn’t care.

 I’m glad Pocket Mirror has had any new content at all. And I’m so happy that they put in the effort to make this labor of love while also (i think) still working on an entire other game. But... some of these design choices were baffling, especially for how long the game seemed to take.

 I understand game design isn’t easy, but some of these decisions were baffling. I hope we at least receive a few more patches that address some of these issues, or even a major content update that overhauls some of the more odd things.

 Finally, I’ll probably make a post about what I loved in the remaster, because this much negativity about something I like makes my head hurt.

 Love you, AstralShift <3

[medea10]

My Review of [Oshi no Ko]

Oof. The spring anime season of 2023 was kinda lax with the sequels and reboots. This was welcoming news for me as I was happy to take on any and every new anime that dropped. And I was ready to give the top prize to Skip and Loafer or even My Love Story with Yamada-kun. But then, this anime smashed in like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. This anime was already seen as the most, highly-anticipated anime to enter this season. Of course, the creator also made Kaguya-sama. It’s going to be awesome! And that’s stiff competition as Demon Slayer and Dr. Stone both returned with positive feedback. On the day of its official release, the first episode alone was seen as #1 on all of MAL. Gee, how long did it take for the FMA fan-idiots to nuke the score of this series? About four weeks. Guys, get another hobby.

Besides becoming the #1 anime on MAL with just one episode out, Hidive received the highest amount of traffic to their website for the first time ever. The music video released by YOASOBI for Oshi no Ko trended for a full week and as of May 17, 2023, the video reached 100 million views. Add to that, YOASOBI’s single has been dominating on the global Billboard charts. Manga sales have exploded. This anime is definitely one to behold. Let’s hope that nothing happens to the anime to make it falter.

Before I talk about the synopsis, I should really go a little further when it comes to the first episode. We all know, the average anime episode is roughly 21-25 minutes as it varies. This of course doesn’t include the length and time of recaps, openings, ending themes, or previews. But then, you get several episodes that are 40-50 minutes. I call that the, “Aniplex wants your attention episode”. Yeah, it’s because most of those I see are in Aniplex animes. Especially the Monogatari series. But in most cases, these are just the first or last episode. I just learned to accept it and enjoy the extra-long episode of SAO or Demon Slayer. Plus, it’s just their way to fill in as much content for the season. Oshi no Ko’s first episode clocked in at a whopping 82 minutes. This first episode alone could have been a feature-length movie. Japan actually did put the first episode on the big screen weeks before the television premier. This seems to be a missed opportunity for Sentai Filmworks.

A REQUEST: I do have a request for those blindly stumbling upon this review. If you are reading this part and have not watched at least episode 1, I kindly ask that you close this page and go watch Oshi no Ko’s first episode. Do not even read the synopsis to the episode. It is best that you go in blind. If you have already done so, please disregard this message and let’s get at it!

Ai Hoshino is an idol in a group called B Komachi. She is loved all around Japan. One particular fan (Sarina) loves her dearly. It’s the one thing in her life that gives her joy as she is currently battling a rare form of brain cancer. She dies. She was only 12. A doctor (Gorou Amemiya) who befriended her kinda got into Ai shortly after Sarina’s death. And now he’s hooked. One day, Gorou gets the surprise of his life as one of his incoming patients is 20 weeks pregnant with twins. And surprise, it’s famous idol Ai Hoshino.

Oof. I’m sorry, seeing them talk to a 16-year-old girl who is pregnant is not a pleasant topic I like to talk about nowadays. You all know the country I hail from and how angry I get talking about real world topics.

Gorou took care of Ai for the next twenty weeks to ensure a safe and healthy delivery. The night Ai went into labor, Gorou was murdered by a man who asked him about the whereabouts of Ai. In his final moments, Gorou recalled a conversation he had with Sarina about what it would be like to be the children of a famous idol.

With that, Gorou died and is reincarnated as one of Ai’s twins (named Aqua). The other twin (named Ruby) was Sarina reincarnated. We watch Aqua and Ruby grow as Ai’s children. But their identies were shielded from the public due to fear of Ai’s career being ruined forever. Still though, when Ai is with her children, it’s some of the happiest moments of Ai’s life considering her life prior to idol fame was dreadful. As for the kids, Aqua got into acting and Ruby got into dancing. And even though it took several years, Ai’s popularity began to grow past just being a teen idol and was ready to perform at a super dome. This happiness was shattered.

The stalker that killed Ai’s doctor stabs Ai in her residence and with Aqua as a witness. In Ai’s final words, she was able to give out a sincere “I love you” to her children. Ai is dead. The stalker killed himself. The children’s biological father could be the source of all that has just occurred. Aqua is ready for revenge.

Now, at age 16 is when the real story begins for Aqua and Ruby. Ruby has ambitions of becoming an idol like her mother, but Aqua wants her to steer-clear away from that business because of what happened to their mother. That doesn’t stop Ruby’s ambitions as she ends up restarting her mother’s old idol group B Komachi. As for Aqua, he gets several television appearances. He has no interest in that stuff, but this is the only way to get answers about Ai and their possible biological father as he might be the key or the reason behind Ai’s demise.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Oh good! Rie Takahashi is in the main cast. Oh…she plays Ai. That’s just sad. So, is Ai still technically a main character even though she gets killed by episode 1? Just curious! As for the sub, Sentai has a dub out. My premature thoughts went straight to Monica Rial. I’m sniffing around to see if she’s even in this. I can sense Rial up in here.

several research voice actor moments later

Okay, Monica Rial isn’t part of the main cast…but her sister is. I was close and thought that either one or both Rial sisters were going to be there. I thought these people did a good job considering the major hype to the anime. I know I usually never give glowing recommendations for any dub done by Sentai. This, they did fine with. This is my first time hearing most (if not all) the main cast.

JAPANESE CAST: *Aqua is played by Takeo Ootsuka (known for Tem on Beastars)

*Ruby is played by Yurie Igoma

*Ai is played by Rie Takahashi (known for Emilia on Re:Zero, Tomo on Tomo-chan is a Girl, Megumin on Konosuba, Ena on Laid-Back Camp, Sumi on Rent-A-Girlfriend, and Mash on Fate/Grand Order)

ENGLISH CAST: *Aqua is played by Jack Stansbury (known for Mendou on Urusei Yatsura 2022)

*Ruby is played by Alyssa Marek

*Ai is played by Donna Bella Litton (known for Ran on Urusei Yatsura 2022)

SHIPPING: This…can get really ewwie really fast.

Gorou’s obsession with Ai was borderline Lolita fetish. A grown-ass man obsessing over a 16-year-old idol can get really creepy really fast. I do give him props as he remained completely professional as Ai’s OB-GYN. Now, what happens when Gorou dies and is reborn as Aqua? Oh, he loves Ai! It’s just that Aqua was careful as humanly possible. That’s my tip-toeing around the scene where Aqua turns down being breast fed by Ai. Ruby doesn’t mind drinking from Ai’s teat.

16-year-old Aqua kept getting asked by his castmates for the reality show he was in what his ideal woman was. He tip-toes around it, but we all know he’s describing Ai. His mother! A woman who died over 10 years ago. And again, HIS MOTHER! Though, nobody else knows that fact so he just tip-toes around it by being as discreet as humanly possible. Because of Aqua’s looks, he’s a prime target for thirsty girls at his school. But thanks to the reality show he was in; he ends up in a fake relationship with Akane. Totally doesn’t help that Akane starts acting like Ai! Because those two “hooked up” during the reality show, they must keep up appearances with their relationship in the public eye.

We could end that shit topic here if not for little miss Kana being little miss tsundere whenever Aqua is around. Oh boy, Kana is a true tsundere here.

SADDEST MOMENT: That first episode killed it in more ways than one. There’s no doubt that every main character here has had their hardships in the past. Ai had parents that abandoned her and she winds up in an orphanage. When Ruby was Sarina, she was suffering from that rare brain cancer where it was a struggle just to walk. And as for Aqua, they never did find his original body. But I was not prepared for what happened when Ai answered that door in episode 1.

I was thinking that stalker guy was the father of Aqua and Ruby and we’re going to have this whole thing throughout the series. Instead, when I watched this guy try to kill Ai, I immediately got flashbacks of Selena. Oh yeah, who could forget that death?

Yes, everything about Ai’s final words killed me. The animation, the delivery, everything! And Rie Takahashi knocked it out of the park!

DO THESE STORIES LOOK FAMILIAR TO YOU?: So, I might be going out on several limbs here but hear me out. Watching Oshi no Ko, do you draw any kind of correlation to any character’s backstory and seen it with an actor who might have gone through this same sort of thing? This story delves into the dark side of the entertainment industry and mostly in Japan. But being American, I can’t help but draw connections to the sad stories I would see in the entertainment industry in the U.S.

When I watched a crazed fan attack Ai, I will always immediately think of what happened to Selena. Seeing Kana try to stay relevant due to being a child actor, I think of a lot of child stars that went on after the height of their careers and while there are some success stories, there’s…well, it didn’t end well for actors like Bobby Driscoll and Dana Plato. Look both of those up, it’s quite tragic. I know these are American actors and most of the story is revolved around what happens in the Japanese entertainment industry. I’m just using these an example because I learned about these tragedies and lived through some of them (especially Selena’s death). Despite all of those stories being decades old, a lot of dark things still take place in this day and age. And with the addition of social media, being an entertainer has become worse.

The Akane storyline…ouch. First of all, social media comments are toxic. I will admit, I used to “Egosurf” a lot in my 20s when I was somewhat relevant on certain sites. It did not do well for my mental health. But I’m not like Akane. I’m not an entertainer. I’m a dork that likes to write reviews for animes and proud of it. If someone on Tumblr tells me I suck, I just ignore it. I probably won’t even see it knowing me. Tee-hee! Back to the matter at hand though. Akane wasn’t really seen as anything special in the reality show she was in with Aqua. She didn’t stick out as much as her other co-stars. Despite it being kinda like a reality show, these kids are still acting or doing what their supervisors say. Akane decides to do something impulsive and it backfired. BADLY!

This resulted in people on social media exploding with hatred for Akane with the most disgusting of messages telling her she’ll never act again or just blunt ones that say “Just die”. Despite the episode clearly stating this is a “work of fiction”, you know they got inspired by the real-life tragedy of Hana Kimura. Kimura was a female professional wrestler for the most part. In 2019, she was in a reality show called Terrace House. During an episode, Kimura got in a verbal argument with one of the castmates. From what I’ve read, they asked her to stir the pot a bit and fight with the other castmate. After this episode aired, fans took to social media and posted a lot of hate-filled messages towards Kimura. This sent her in a deep depression. Two months after this episode aired and all of the horrible messages were blasted at top speed, Hana Kimura committed suicide.

I don’t want to say Oshi no Ko blatently used this one particular story for the Akane storyline. But I’m also not saying that either. This is eerily too similar. It also doesn’t help that this episode aired days before the anniversary of Kimura’s death. I know it’s coincidence, but weird-ass timing. Thank God Aqua saved her from jumping off the bridge. While Oshi no Ko is a work of fiction, what happened to Hana Kimura was not. And bullying the woman’s family is not helping anything whatsoever. Yes, Kimura’s mother is pissed at the anime for airing a story similar to the events that drove her daughter to suicide. She has that right! Don’t bully her because she’s mad at everyone involved with Oshi no Ko. If I was in her shoes, I’d probably be pissed too and for a long time too. Moving away from that dumpster fire…

And the biggest kudos goes to Hidive. At the end of episode 6, they put up a message to prevent suicide and well, you know what? I’m going to do so here too.

As someone who has unfortunately been in dark places like some of these characters, I encourage others to seek out help as well.

ENDING: Since the events of episode 1, we watched what Ruby and Aqua want to do with their lives. Ruby is committed to becoming an idol like her mother. Slowly throughout the season, she and Kana joined Ai’s old production company and started up the idol group Ai was in, B Komachi. It was just the two of them until the end of the reality show Aqua was in. That’s when Aqua suggested to his castmate Mem-Cho that she should become an idol in the B Komachi revival. This is an interesting mixture for an idol group with the daughter of an idol (though nobody knows that fact), a former child star, and a Youtuber that’s 25 going on 16 depending on her applications.

Kana puts up a brave face in front of Ruby and Mem-Cho. But you can tell that Kana is scared. She’s been tossed around since becoming older, nobody bought her single when she recorded songs, her own mother even gave up on her, and all of these rejections kinda caught up to Kana. Regardless, Kana went up on stage with Ruby and Mem-Cho as a rookie idol. B Komachi got their chance at an idol festival to perform. It’s a start compared to a lot idols in other animes. On stage, it was clear that the audience was mostly there for Mem-Cho due to her popularity through the reality show and her Youtube channel. But Ruby got some attention from an audience member who remembered the original B Komachi and noticed Ruby kinda got that same aura as Ai.

Kana felt a little despair while performing on stage. But then we get a déjà vu trip as Aqua is in the audience doing a glow stick dance. Yeah, it was a lot like what happened when Ai was performing, doubt was swarming her, and then the twins start doing a glow stick dance. I guess the performance went well. It’s just that after that we see more tsundere moments from Kana. Mem-Cho finally sees that Kana likes Aqua. And then there’s some friction when we learn that Kana and Akane know each other and are rivals. And when I say rivals, I mean they are like Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak in the first season rivals, they are catty bitches. They’ve been at it since they were children.

A popular anime is about to be adapted as a stage musical. Akane and Kana are set to be in this production. The gentleman that Aqua has been in contact for a while now set him up with a role in that same stage musical. This theater company was apparently where things changed for Ai when she was an up-and-coming idol.

Could this be Aqua’s big lead to possibly meeting his biological father? That’s a question that won’t be answered today. At least season two is greenlit.

Soooooo…after watching episode 1 and the hype that came along with it, did the rest of the season grab my attention? Yes. It totally did. I mean it wasn’t at the hype it was when I had just watched episode 1. After one viewing of episode one, I had to tell anyone who would listen to me that this was awesome. There were however several other episodes that grabbed me. Yes, it was the Akane-centered episodes. Let’s just say any time I saw moments with Kana and Ruby trying to do idol stuff before Mem-cho came were a little boring. I just felt like they were just there and nothing else. Probably just a reminder that yeah, they exist, now let’s go back to Aqua doing what he’s doing.

Am I excited for season two? Oh yes, I am. I’m doing my best not to look at any manga spoilers. It’s hard. Every so often, a spoiler drops on Twitter and you just want to look. Or someone on Youtube will say something about a new chapter and you just want to take a quickie. NOPE! I’m going to stay strong and just practice good patience.

Medea read up about Aqua and Ruby’s father

No self control whatsoever! Not one iota of it. Whenever season two drops, it’s going to be a biggie. Will the anime continue to be a smashing hit when it returns? That’s for the future to decide. I truly hope for the best. As long as they stay with the original material and the same studio that’s animating it, I think we’ll be good. Full recommendation!

FINAL (IDIOTIC) THOUGHT: So, is Ai going to be the next member of Franchouchou on Zombieland Saga?

…I’m going to sit in the corner and think about what I just wrote.

All 11 episodes are available on Hi-Dive.

[cosmetichorror]

Guys I wrote a fanfic surrounding Purah pre and post calamity

This takes place before calamity strikes, and her thoughts directly after.

TW in tags! Read with caution

————————

May 1, xxxx

6:00 am

With the princesses birthday so close, Robbie and I have stepped up our experiments. His majesty doesn't want Zelda experimenting with us anymore, but Robs and I are trying to find a way around it.

Zelda’s powers still won’t awaken, I wonder if there's something we could do to help?

—

6:25 am

Robbie won’t shut up about his little crush. I am being forced to work on a mechanical robot that Robbie plans to use to confess his love to his “Dearly beloved Cherry”. A waste of time if you ask me, but he's always been over the top.

Test #1

We powered the bot up, and it immediately started sparking. Swiftly turning it off, we found an exposed wire.

Test #2

Less sparks, but not quite there yet. When fixing the exposed wire, I believe we may have knocked something loose, as the bot twitched and powered down after approximately three-point-four-five seconds.

Test #3

This one was more successful, but it still needs work. The bot stayed on for about ten seconds, and made out the word “Cherry” in Robbie’s voice before smoke started to pour out.

I never quite understood Robbie’s obsession with Cherry, he’s always so insistent on being professional when Cherry is around– When I am quite sure Cherry knows little to nothing of science. Nonetheless, Cherry is a nice guy. I’m positive that he and Robbie will have a nice life together. (That is, if Robbie can get over this over the top announcement of his love…)

—

8:46 am

Finally we get to work on the guardians a bit more! These machines could save the world, I just know it. The king has graciously agreed to bring in caged monsters of different varieties to see how the guardians react to them– along with a very brave, armored soldier with a bokoblin mask to see just how well programmed they are.

—

5:30 pm

Guardian attacked and killed all the monsters

It did not attack the soldier with the boko mask, even when provoked

I noticed something strange while testing the machines. The guardian we were working on kept looking at the castle, occasionally letting out a shrill whistle and shuffling from side to side like some kind of spooked animal. This behavior has not been seen before– If you can even call it that. But this does bring up the question of if these machines have minds of their own. More experimentation is necessary.

—

May 3, xxxx

6:00 am

Reports of strange behavior from the guardians continues. They all keep looking at the castle, as if they see something, or are waiting to see something. Robbie theorizes that perhaps there is some machine hidden in the castle, similar to the divine beasts, guardians or shrines. If that is the case, maybe the guardians are drawn to the castle for that reason? We’re heading to the castle to speak to His Majesty about this.

—

8:56 pm

We arrived at the castle approximately one hour ago. The King has graciously offered Robbie and I a place to rest, and we will discuss the guardians with him (and hopefully the princess) In the morning. Along with this, we may have some time to work with the other scientists here!

—

May 4, xxxx

1:23 pm

The discussion of the guardians went well. The princess was prohibited from even listening in on the conversation. Robbie and I agreed to perhaps find a way to update her with everything on her birthday. She turns seventeen in eight days, perhaps then the King will be more lenient with her highness.

—

6:04 pm

Robbie and I worked with the other scientists at the castle, and we got to catch up with some friends and discuss if they’ve noticed the guardians strange behavior.

Willow seemed worried about the guardians strange behavior. Then again, she was always the nervous type, but she has a fair point. If it really is just some machinery in the castle, why are they reacting just now? It’s a dilemma, truly. I asked some others their opinions on it. Keid said it was likely just a malfunction– and while that could be true, these machines are older than all of us combined, It doesn't make sense why all of them would be reacting in the same way. Sylled said he was sure it was nothing to worry about, and that Robbie, Willow and I are being too dramatic. I disagree.

—

May 9, xxxx

6:33 am

Robbie, Impa and I were supposed to go with Zelda and the champions for her seventeenth birthday, but mother has fallen ill. Impa and I fear this may be her last days, so we will be in Kakiriko with her to keep her company. I told Robbie he can go with Zelda, but he insisted on coming to support Impa and I during this time. I truly am grateful for him.

—

May 11, xxxx

6:00 am

Zelda and the champions should be near Mount Lanayru. We got word the princess will swing by to tell us how everything went with her prayer– We can only hope her powers awaken.

Robbie, being the genius he is, found a way for us to do some experiments to take our mind off of things.

He brought some weapons and little parts for us to work on. If we can perfect these sheikah tech weapons, the king could give us a big pay raise! Impa was willing to test them out.

—

5:30 pm

Test #1

We were working with this ancient shortsword, albeit with some modern enhancements. The blade was so sharp, it sliced almost all the way through a tree. It would have been even better if Impa had chosen a different tree– Mrs Krell was NOT happy with us nearly slicing her plum tree straight down.

Test #2

Ancient shield. It seems rather simple, but is great at deflecting and is very portable!

Test #3

Ancient bow. And by far, the best bow I've ever seen! Impa never learned how to use the bow, but thankfully Robbie knows how! He said he’s really not that good– but upon shooting the arrow flew straight! After comparing it with a normal bow, the difference was striking! Something about the ancient bow made the arrow fly straighter and further… I look forward to testing this with Robbie further in the future

Test #4

Robbie brought along a prototype chest piece made out of guardian shells! This ancient armor is thick and sturdy, and rather durable. It glows similarly to that of a guardian, and it lets out a constant hum of magic. We strapped it around a tree and striked, and it took every hit with ease! The royal guard could perhaps benefit from these.

—

May 12, xxxx

6:00 am

Things are rough, mother is still sick. Robbie has suggested we go harvest some berries and hunt to pass the time and get my mind off of things while Impa watches over mother.

By now Zelda and the champions must be waking up, and getting ready to finish the last leg of the journey. The sun is beautiful today, I have hope.

2:45 pm

Many of the other village goers send condolences, as they know mother is soon to leave this world. I can only hope she will live to see Zelda awaken her powers as I know she will.

—

May 22, xxxx

I am tired.

Mother is dead. Willow is dead. Cherry is dead. Keid, Sylled, Rubie, Faro, Ehdo… so many are dead or missing. The calamity struck at exactly 7:00 pm May 12, the evening of Zelda’s seventeenth birthday. It sprouted from the castle, like some… I don’t even know. A snake? A hog? In truth I’ve been staring at this paper for ages trying to think of what to write, but the words are all jumbled together.

I can’t sleep. I keep waking from nightmares. And I swear I can still see the blood on my hands.

—

June 18, xxxx

2:23 am

My head is full of cotton, I can’t sleep. I keep having the same nightmare, over and over. Thinking about it now, it’s more of a memory than anything. I am constantly anxious. I have no one to go to now that we all had to go separate ways. Loud sounds make me jump, thunder scares me terribly, and even the color red leaves me nervous. I have to have a candle burning at both ends of the night. I’m almost embarrassed to admit— but I am afraid of the dark now. I swear I can see red glowing lights out of the corner of my eye alongside mechanical figures.

Realistically, I recognize I am fine. I should be fine. Despite my knowledge that I am okay, I don’t feel okay. I don’t know if I ever will be okay again.

Impa, Robbie and I were right outside Kakiriko when it happened. Strangely, the memory seems far too fuzzy, and yet too clear. The ground shook, and a red haze spread overtop the kingdom. Immediately, we knew what had to be done. Robbie went to the citadel, Impa went to find the princess, and I went to Hateno for the other scientists stationed there.

I can only say what I heard happened from Impa and Robbie, and they were so shaken up some details could be incorrect. Robbie said by the time he got to the citadel, everyone was dead. Impa said she found the princess, and was ordered to save people in Castletown while she and Link fought the calamity. She helped a young woman and her little brother escape the ashes of their family home and arrive at a safe spot— only for them both to succumb to their injuries hours later. She told me she didn’t know where Link or Zelda was.

Robbie had fled from the citadel and ended up in Hateno as he knew I’d be there too, and he was hoping to find Impa along the way.

I barely made it to Hateno myself before the guardians reached there. I had enough time to go to the lab up on the hill and speak to the other scientists. Two were missing, Ravja and Vien. poor Yuko and Yuno, the twins were worried for the two of them as they had gone out to gather some truffles hours earlier and had yet to return; They told me and Robbie to hold down the fort while they went out to find them. I’d see all four of their bodies in a mass cremation site later on.

Robbie was pacing around the room while me and him argued over how to deactivate the guardians as they crept closer to Hateno village. Fort Hateno was being swarmed from what I heard. While running through the village to see what I could do to help, I briefly spoke to Link’s father. He asked me if I knew how to wield a sword, and gave me one of his. He said something along the lines of “I’m too old to keep fighting. I hope you’re as great in battle as your sister.” Personally, I wasn’t planning on leaving to fight, but that sword would come in handy.

It was all a blur of people screaming, hiding, and rushing the injured and dead into town. People were already screaming, but then I heard people cry out and weep openly. As I ran down to see what had happened, I saw two sheikah warriors carrying the hero’s limp body. I saw his father run up and grab his son, holding him close as he cried. I had never heard a person let out such a visceral cry. The warriors— Uvno and Wren told me the princess ordered them to take Link to the shrine of resurrection, and that they needed the sheikah slate, which is in my possession.

I remember a lot from this moment. People screamed and wept— not for themselves, but for Link. He had grown up here and many recognized him. I think what was most horrific about it is some people weren’t sure if that was Link. The only way they were absolutely certain was his telltale blue tunic. His face and side was mangled, with skin hanging off and muscle torn out and burned away in chunks. You could see some bone sticking out from certain areas on him from where the guardians had blasted him head on— and even then the bone was cracked and burnt. One of his ears was hanging on by a lone flap of skin, and his chest was a bloodied mess. The worst was on his chest, but the tunic and blood made it look not as bad as it was.

It was hard to convince his father to let go of him. He clung to his son with all his might and pleaded with the gods to take him instead. We didn’t have time to explain what we’d be doing to help him, we just took him and ran while some locals wept and held him back to comfort him. Some other locals were kind enough to lend us two horses for us to borrow.

Everything after that is both a blur, and yet far too vivid for my liking. Thank the heavens for Robbie, those prototype weapons and armor came in handy. Monsters were everywhere, you could look in any direction and see at least two of every species– it would have been fascinating if bodies of strangers and familiar faces weren't littered around. As we entered Fort Hateno, it was overrun with guardians. And yet, none were functional… Actually, rethinking it all, I feel like a few were still active, as I do recall the sound of beeping as we galloped past. Robbie told me not to look behind us, so I didn’t. And even if I wanted to, I was too worried about keeping a good grip on Link’s body.

He was still warm, but he was obviously dead. I looked at his face for too long, and saw just how bad it was. His eyes were open– at least, as far as I could tell. One half of his face was covered in blood, dirt, debris and peeled up skin. I couldn't see his eye clearly on that side of his face, and I think it was badly damaged. The other half of his face had burn marks, and bits of debris and shrapnel sticking out of some places in his skin. But his eye was half open, though I wish it wasn't. He had this blank, empty, dead look. Of course, that does make sense, he was very much dead, but that didn’t make it any less disturbing. It was nauseating, I had to look away.

Even thinking about it leaves my head turning.

—

June 20, xxxx

5:20 pm

Nothing is getting better, if anything it's getting worse. Hateno is more depressing than ever. I went on a walk outside the village yesterday to clear my mind and saw a man who hung himself. I don't blame him.

I haven’t left the lab since.

—

Feb 2, xxxx

12:43 am

I still can't sleep. Nothing helps me sleep. I don’t want to sleep, either. I keep seeing it all.

When Robbie and I were on our way to the Shrine, we saw many things. Dead, living, injured, all ages… We didn’t have time to stop. We had to keep going. I try not to wonder if any of them survived, or if they had families.

The only times we stopped was to use the bathroom and for the horses to rest and eat. We ourselves didn't eat, though we did drink water occasionally. Getting food would take too long, and even if we had food, I think I would have thrown it back up. The smell of metallic blood was constant, the rain kept it from fully drying. Eventually I would grow used to the scent, but I never got used to the sight of it.

Monsters chased the horses, Robbie used every arrow we had to keep them at bay. When we did stop, Robbie would guard Link while I ran to find people who would have arrows to spare. But living people were few and far inbetween. I am ashamed to admit I have stolen many weapons and arrows from the corpses of the fallen.

—

July 2, xxxx

5:11 am

May 12 still lives on my mind. When it stopped raining we were around three fourths the way to the plateau. And when we reached there, we had to leave our horses and run up all those steps with Link.

The monsters were hot on our trail, our weapons were cracked and rusting from use, but we managed to keep it up.

By now Link’s body had grown stiff to where I could no longer reposition his limbs. It was strange to feel and hard to think of, so I kept on going. Not that we had much choice, it was do or die. Even now it still feels like do or die. I try not to think on how he felt in my arms.

By that point Robbie and I were bruised, cut, hungry and exhausted. But we had no time to pause and take a break, not when we were so close. The monsters knew we had Link. Its as if they knew where we were taking him. Although that made the trip harder, it also gave me a flicker of hope, because if those things were trying so hard to stop us, maybe it would work?

The shrine was untested, no one knew if it would work, but I hoped it would.

Even now, I still hope it will.

—

July 4, xxxx

6:23 am

People keep asking me if I’m okay. I tell them I’m fine, but I’m really not. How could anyone be fine anymore? Over half of Hyrule's population is rotting in unmarked graves. Countless men, women, children and elderly, all too mangled for anyone to place names to what's left of their faces.

I’ve gotten word of what villages and settlements remain. Seven. Seven settlements remain. One zora, one goron, one rito, one gerudo, one sheikah, and two hylian. Zora’s domain remained intact for the most part thanks to its guards. The path to the domain was mostly destroyed, however. The easiest way there is to climb now, as you avoid the many lizalfos that now inhabit the area. Kakiriko barely survived, almost everyone I knew is either injured, dead, or forever disabled. Goron city is mostly okay due to the hard terrain and hardy gorons, but many guardians litter the path up there. Rito village survived as well, most of the young fledgelings were able to hide, but I heard news that many went up to Vah medoh to try and help Champion Revali, and all but two were struck down and killed. As for Gerudo town, they are one of the few places that remained almost completely unharmed. The guardians could not reach them through the billowing sandstorms, but the lizalfos killed any who left the town.

Only two hylian settlements remain out of the thirteen main ones, not counting the multicultural villages or outposts. All in all, out of the thirty eight villages, outposts, buildings and military training areas, seven remain all together. Hateno is one of them, and I heard Lurelin survived intact as well. Three fourths of Hyrules population is wiped off the map, and yet we still ask each other if they are fine, when we already know the answer.

I am tired.

—

July 12, xxxx

I find myself lonely more often than not. Even when I talk to others I am lonely. I can’t remember the last time I genuinely laughed or smiled. Everyday is the same, a simple repeating loop that never changes. I consider giving up at times, but I keep going because I need to be there when Link wakes up.

When we reached the shrine of resurrection, I could barely keep myself standing. My legs wee weak from running and it felt exhausting to even breathe. I sat Link down and slammed the Sheikah slate onto the pedestal repeatedly. We could hear monsters in the distance, and my ears were ringing. It wouldn’t open at first, no reaction at all. I was so stressed and overwhelmed, I broke down crying, and I started kicking and hitting that pedestal as if that would help. I don’t remember what I said exactly, but I remember begging for it to open. Robbie had said something to me, but I don’t think I was actually paying attention. The stiffness in Link’s body had begun to leave as he went more limp again. I had grabbed his arm and brought it up to the pedestal. It worked, surprisingly. Seems the trick to opening it up was Link all along.

Robbie and I rushed Link inside, almost dropping him.

The inside of the shrine glowed blue, there was a sort of ethereal feel to it all. I swear I could feel the pulsing of some sort of power– A part of me wants to say it was almost like magic, but the scientific part of me wants to make a logical reason. Perhaps the pulsing of electricity?

There was a sort of tub in the back of the room, with an object I can only describe as a light or cover overtop, hanging over it. Link’s clothes were bloody and torn, so Robbie and I quickly took them off, we’d have Impa fix it. She helped Zelda make his tunic originally anyways, so it all works out.

When we removed his shirt, I almost passed out. His skin peeled up easily along with the shirt with a sickening sound. His muscles and tendons were melted and barely held his skin together. His chest overall was a mess of blood, bone and guts. His skin was charred black in some places, peeling up in others with chunks missing to where we could see his innards. Before then I had never seen someone’s guts sticking out, but I suppose everything changes. We quickly removed the rest of his clothes and put him in the tub. As soon as he was in there, it started to fill with a thick liquid of sorts. It was a vibrant blue, and was thicker than water. We watched as it filled up past his face and overtook him completely. Robbie ushered me to put the slate on the pedestal so he’d have a way to get out if– when he awoke. As we ran out before the doors shut on us, Robbie pulled out his bow and some bomb arrows he had been saving, and shot at the stairs as we ran up. I stood outside and yelled at him to hurry up, but he said he wouldn't leave until the stairs were gone. He wanted to make sure if anything broke into the shrine, they couldn’t reach him. As soon as the stairs were nothing more than a pile of rubble, he ran out just in time to miss getting trapped. But we had one last thing to do.

As we ran back down off the plateau, Robbie planted bomb arrows at every crack and weak point, ushering me to do the same. When we ran out of bomb arrows about half way down, we started improvising with fire chuchu jelly, and taking what we could find from corpses nearby.

When Robbie set ablaze those bombs, the stairs came crashing down in a mess of smoke and debris, but it was done.

As soon as our job was done, I fell to my knees and puked. Robbie had started crying, and he took off his goggles for the first time in a while. I think we both sat on the ground (away from my vomit) and sobbed for ages. We were exhausted, hungry, thirsty, and covered in blood, most of which wasn't ours. I think on the way back to kakiriko I had thrown up three more times.

We had only spent a few days in Kakiriko before we went our separate ways. I’ll never forget the feeling of leaving the most important people in my life.

If Hylia is real, we’re her joke book. I wonder if she’s laughing down at me right now, and I hate her. If she’s real, she’s a monster as bad as the calamity. I’m cursed to live with this blight inside my mind, I fear I’ll never be me again. Maybe Hylia is dead, and soon we all will join her as well. And when the stars call my name maybe I can rest knowing I did my best, but I don't think I’ll ever forget again. When I close my eyes I see the horrors, and when I speak all that comes out is a mumble. All I can do anymore is focus on my work, but it’s not the same. In truth I’d rather be dead than live knowing things may not get better.

If Hylia is real, when I die I will face her and her wrath if only to make her know she is the real monster. If there is any God out there, my only question is why they hate us all.

[homuraakumaakemi]

Personal reasons both on and offline have led me to be less active. However, someone’s analysis on Kuroe (please don’t find/go after them) reminds me of what they had said when the anime’s ending was new and fresh. Most people, myself included, were rather bitter, you see, so we didn’t want to see people just…act in a way that we felt was callous and cold to her. I in particular got super attached to Kuroe. This girl is a lot like Homura, and also a lot like me. However, to call her just Iroha’s Homura is reductive and doesn’t do her justice. Kuroe is her own character with her own wants and desires. Even if some of us thought she was (the first) Kuro, or then Homura’s long-lost sister before canon said otherwise, the point is we love HER. We want HER to be happy. Rest under the Read More. Content warnings for discussions of death and suicide, as well as spoilers for the last four episodes of the anime of Magia Record:

Some people think Kuroe becoming a Witch in her despair was thematically appropriate. That the theme in Anireco is moving on from the past so you can look towards the future. That the way Kuroe became a Witch fits in perfectly with the franchise.

I disagree. I was bitter then, and I’m still bitter now.

I feel Kuroe should NOT have become a Witch, especially in the way she did. Yes, lots of Magical Girls become Witches when their feelings of hopelessness and despair reach a fever pitch, but Kuroe’s case felt especially cruel. It pretty much is framed like a suicide, where Kuroe desperately tries to escape from the Labyrinth, then doubles down on the idea that NO ONE can help her. That she is BEYOND any hope of happiness. That she just wants her pain and suffering to end. To say nothing of how her Witch was put down by Iroha, literally framed like putting a rabid dog out of its misery. And then, her death was used to help galvanize Iroha. It really feels like they made this amazing, relatable character…just so Iroha could get to where the story needed her to be, given she also loses Ui, Touka, and Nemu for good in this continuity.

Am I just angry at them not giving my favorite character a happy ending? Hell yes, I am! But people who are better wordsmiths than me have written about how the writing that led to this is not great. How it arguably feels more fitting for Magical Girl Site or Raising Project than it does Madoka Magica, and considering the kind of shit that IS in the original anime and Rebellion, is saying a LOT. Which is a shame, because what we had before this was SO GOOD. And then, the last few episodes happened. And this is the SECOND TIME this has happened to me in series I like!

Although, if there is a silver lining, someone in the game staff seems to have agreed with me. In the game, Kuroe is alive, well, and thriving! She’s in a position to where she’s starting to let Iroha in, and we even get details and context to Kuroe’s backstory, which is amazing.

I can take her never meeting Homura and becoming the big sister Homura never had, finding something in bonding with each other that they haven’t found in many other places. Obviously, I’d love it, and the fandom has both of them meet characters I feel wouldn’t truly understand them.

However, at the end of the day, I want my favorite character to be happy. And in the game, she is headed that way. Two amazing units, being able to actually bond a bit with Iroha, some of the best storytelling the game has offered yet (I’m biased towards any Kuro, and especially Kuroe), and lots and lots of lore and things you can get by implication.

Characters can be interesting AND happy. They can be allowed to heal without compromising what makes them resonate so dearly with all of us.

“This is the face of a girl we want to protect and ensure never makes the same mistakes we did.”