#2 - Cadenza

[arttsuka]

I drew this meme too (I should have drawn the groom uglier tbh)

Og picture:

[missmaddles-uwu]

cadenza mcd redesign !

somethin i did a while ago ^_^ thought cadenza would be cute if she had some feathers as a side effect of being a chicken for a bit

i liked redesigning her outfits too.. her armor is UGLYYYYYYYYY in canon

(i dont know how this site works at all sorry 😭)

[fallenangely0hane]

I tried SO HARD to suppress this hyperfixation. But considering I’m posting a lineup of (almost) all the outfits of all the girls in minecraft diaries season one I think you can guess how that went

[german-garbage]

When the Beat took me, it knew me completely: Everything I am, was, and will be. But I knew it too. It felt... familiar.

[xerith-42]

Can I just get everyone's opinions on Cadenza Zvahl?

Rambly, unfiltered, nuanced, simple, whatever they are, just reblog or reply to this post with what your opinions of her are.

I'll start: Cadenza is my favorite Minecraft Diaries character. She's a character I find a lot of solace in, a character who I always connected with, a character who remained a favorite no matter how little screen time she got. Every time I revisit Diaries for any reason I find something new with Cadenza I can explore, something new to love, something new to create with. She's a muse to me but in a far more personal way than some other characters I post frequently about.

Which may sound ridiculous coming from me, but that's just the truth. Cadenza is a character who I will always love with my entire heart, and I will admit I literally wrote this post just as an excuse to gush about her. She's loyal, she's dedicated, she's insanely skilled in her craft, she provides for the people she loves in real ways, she encourages others to take things easier, she doesn't let the world ever kick her down for long. No matter what the world takes from her, no matter how alone Cadenza may feel, she's never alone, and she never gives up. She always preserves and thrives.

Flowers bloom in different conditions. It just so happens that the most beautiful in Ru'aun bloomed on the Battlefield.

[mattcursedghost]

Oh you know just yet again another fictional character that i fell in love with

[lumiereandcogsworth]

throughout the movie, lumiere, maestro cadenza, and mr. potts ALL call their wives “darling” at some point. like!!! no wonder adam calls belle that so much!!!! that’s what all the good men in his life call their beloveds!!!!!!!!!

[kayzero]

Happy borth!!! It was a reminder for rambling about ocs I believe lol

thank you thank you!! i’m gonna ramble about a different oc with this ask!!

I didn’t really go into detail about the Seven Sins themselves. The writing concept continued from “okay Pride wants to rule everything, but she doesn’t want to be seen as a monster dictator, how do we get her into a position of power?” The answer was to make her a war hero. What would make better opposition for a group of personified Sins than Angels?

So the Sinful Saviors are a group of heroes that saved the world of Peccatum from a race of moralistic, puritanical invaders from a different dimension. They had large feathered wings protruding from their backs and wielded powerful Holy Magic that could also function as hardlight weaponry.

When the Angelic scouts initially came to Peccatum, they encountered the old regime of humanity, in which nobles owned land and ruled over the people who lived there. They were rude and selfish and condescending all to a tee, and the scouts took them to be representative of all humanity, and returned with an army.

(As an aside, in the old regime, what mattered most was who you were connected to, and every human had a last name tying them to their highest ranking family member, or rarely, the noble they served. Pride’s rule is meritocratic, and last names have been dealt away with in favor of Titles denoting their highest achievement.

Examples:

Janet, the Sector Four Baker, who has recently dethroned Marcus, the Patissier as the best baker in Sector Four.

Rufio, the Hummingsnake, a member of the Prideful Militia who was praised by their captain for being quick and evasive after a particularly difficult Monster Repellent mission.

Solaire, who is either called Pride’s Right Hand when dealing with advisory or administrative duties, or the Nexus when on the battlefield in recognition of his mastery over Elemental Magic.

The exception to this is Lady Pride, who is either hiding her previous identity or has sacrificed her True Name in exchange for her overwhelming power, depending on which rumor you believe.)

I talked about Aurora, the character I resonate most closely with, now I’ll talk about the character I love the most, who I like to think about and write the most:

Cadenza, the Lady Sloth.

(cw for religious themes and themes of suicide. very long post to follow.)

Cadenza Accorda and her brother Iratius were born to a nomadic tribe of warriors with incredible magical reserves. They owned no land, but roamed the Eastern Continent freely, frequently making contact with nobility and maintaining positive relationships.

The tribe saw childrearing as a community effort, and rather than have nuclear families with couples raising individual children, they split the tribe into four parts:

The Children

The Caretakers, those in charge of nurturing the children and overseeing homemaking efforts

The Warriors, who fought in defense of the tribe and trained the children, and

The Elders, who made decisions on behalf of the whole tribe and taught the children culture and esoteric magic

The secret to the tribe’s success was a secret technique from an obscure branch of Spiritual Magic. Cast by the carrier about halfway through pregnancy, they start to absorb ambient magic and transfer it directly to the unborn fetus. The fetus, still in development, doesn’t yet have a magical core or any of the three magical centers, and sends most of the energy back to the carrier’s Soul Center. This process strengthens both the fetus and the carrier proportional to the quantity and quality of ambient magic during the spell’s duration.

Iratius was carried along a Leyline, but Cadenza‘a carrier spent most of their pregnancy in the Waterfall of Rebirth with a small detachment of tribespeople. The Waterfall of Rebirth is the origin point for the Leyline of Adaptability, humanity’s Leyline. So Cadenza’s carrier got a significant power boost, and Cadenza was born with extreme magical depths, as well as a deep connection to Humanity’s Progenitor, the Cyclical Goddess.

The tribe elders could also cast this spell on other people, rather than just themselves, and this was the source of their prosperity. They went to nobles and offered their prenatal blessing in exchange for treasures or knowledge or rations or safe passage. And because the blessing influenced the carrier as well, their warriors were the strongest humanity had to offer.

When the Angelic Invasion began, a noble hired the tribe for homeland defense. And it worked for a while — the angel’s chaff were no match for the tribe’s warriors. Nobility began to flock to this one specific area for protection. But then the Angels sent their Elites. They beat the warriors, found out the source of their power, killed every single adult tribesperson so they couldn’t repopulate their forces with more super soldiers, and offered a choice to the children: reeducation and guaranteed safety from the Angels, or they could venture out into the wilds alone and risk being killed later down the road.

Cadenza and Iratius chose to leave. They wandered for a while, with Iratius hunting and Cadenza foraging. He grew more and more angry as time passed, she grew more and more depressed. She started hearing a voice. Every time they got to a relatively safe camp, it would say ‘just stop here. it’s safe here. just give up.’ But something urged her to keep moving, so they did.

And eventually they found a Church of the Cycle. The church offered to shelter them in exchange for a either work around the land or devotion to their goddess. Iratius chose work, and began to run protection detail for missionaries, but Cadenza chose devotion, and began to learn about the Cyclical Goddess.

She threw herself into her studies, became immersed in the precepts of Life and Death. The circumstances of her birth meant that she could perform tremendous feats of magic, and she became the Church’s best Healer, while also attaining mastery of Earth, Soul, and Necromatic Magics.

She worshipped the Goddess. The Goddess had saved her, the Church had saved her and her brother, and she loved them both deeply.

Years later, Cadenza set out to spread the good word of the Cyclical Goddess, with Iratius by her side. Her brother was stronger than her, being both more physically gifted and more magically talented with regards to combat, but she was no slouch. She could detect and cure ailments in no time flat, she could speak to the recently departed and put families at ease, she could raise Angels killed in combat and use them against her foes.

She healed those wounded by the Invasion with a kind smile and pleasant demeanor, she defended bastions of humanity with widespread earth manipulation, and every so often, when someone would ask how they could be more like her, she taught them the Tenets of the Cycle.

Except she broke the most important one.

A contingent of Angels ambushed Cadenza and Iratius. They had heard of Humanity’s Miracle Worker, and how she was grinding all of their progress to a halt with her healing, and tried to take her out of the picture.

A duo swooped in and carried Cadenza off into the sky while a dozen dropped to keep her bodyguard occupied. They thought her weak — Angelic Healers hyperfocused on their duty to the detriment of all else — so they thought all they had to do was carry her high into the sky and drop her, let gravity do all the work.

They were dozens of flights* overhead by the time Cadenza snapped out of her panic, but once she did, she corroded her captor’s brain, killing them instantly, then commanded his corpse to drop her and kill the second Angel, then swoop down and catch her before she hit the ground. There were maybe ten or fifteen minutes between her capture and her return, but it should’ve been fine, Iratius had faced worse odds before—

But every single Angel sent to occupy him was an Elite. She came to the clearing to see four Angels dead, two Angels holding him, and a third drove their sword through the base of Iratius’ skull.

Instant death.

Cadenza felt… numb.

She walked slowly, hesitantly, to Ira’s body.

The Angels tried to attack her, but they were stopped by the corpses of their fallen comrades.

She dropped to her knees and put her hands on his face.

He was still warm.

She could feel his soul leaving his body, toward its destination of the Leyline of Adaptability, to swim up the River of Souls and return to the cycle of rebirth.

…She could… feel… his soul…

She saw grey.

Cadenza’s Magic lashed out and gripped the souls of the Angels, ripping them out of their bodies and toward her own, fueling her desperate spell. She reached out with everything she had and grabbed onto Ira’s soul, forcing it back into his body, healing his wounds as she did so.

She heard a chime in the back of her mind. A death knell.

Only the Goddess should reintroduce life to this world, for mortal hands to attempt such is an unforgivable error.

The most sacred tenet.

Let life returned by mortal hands be struck down by the Goddess’ attendants, and the heretic removed entirely from the Cycle.

The punishment for breaking it.

She backed up to a tree and sat there blankly. Ira got up, tried to question her about the situation, tried to move her somewhere safer, but she was rooted, staring at nothing.

She stayed there for fourteen days, unmoving, unresponsive. Ira stayed by her side. Each day, the goddess would send her Executioners to slay Ira and return him to the cycle.

First they each came alone. One came from the sky on leathery wings and attacked with soul-rending claws. Another swam in on a wave made from the River of Souls, assaulting him with sword and shield. The third came in from the tree line, her head disconnected from her shoulders, with a chain attached to her neck at the end of a mace. The last came out of Ira’s shadow, her hands missing, skin flayed from her arms, her ulna and radius sharpened and serrated.

Ira dispatched them all with ease. Then they came in duos, shuffled each and every day, approaching him with different strategies. When that failed, they came in trios, set in different formations, but he still withstood them.

On the fifteenth day, they came as four, and their flawless teamwork finally overwhelmed him. He was twisted away from claws, with one hand diverting a sword from his neck, another arm blocking bones, but the dullahan had an open shot and sent her mace to strike him down—

And then Cadenza caught the skull in one hand and crushed it. Her face was blank as she slithered past Ira to knife hand through the harpy’s neck, her eyes were dead as she swiped the kelpie’s shield and ran it into her skull. When she faced the final Executioner, she merely said one thing before dispersing into shadow:

“The Goddess will see you in her court.”

Still numb, Cadenza walked northeast to the Goddess’ Isle, still unresponsive to Ira’s questioning. When they reached the beach, Ira was sent to sleep to prevent him from following her across the water — she didn’t want the Goddess to steal him away from her.

She stood underneath the Waterfall of Rebirth, the source of which was hidden in the heavens, and waited. Between one blink and the next, she was standing before the Cyclical Goddess. Cadenza did not beg, or plead, or even answer for her transgression.

She loved the Goddess. She loved the church.

But she loved her brother more.

So the Goddess removed her from the cycle of rebirth, and cursed her. Cadenza’s soul would never return to the River of Souls, would never ascend the Waterfall of Rebirth, would never again be graced by the Goddess’ touch.

And then she was underneath the waterfall again.

A squad of Angels surrounded her — they had seen her crossing the water, knew her as Humanity’s Miracle, decided to deal with her immediately. And so they did, running her through with each of their swords. One through her stomach, one through her heart, one through her neck, and one through her temples.

But she did not die.

She could not die.

She certainly tried. After dealing with those Angels, she separated from her brother and traveled the world. She was bitten by a monster whose venom could down a fully grown elephant-boar, but she yet lived. She was eaten by the Apex Green Dragon, whose acid burned through the ground to the web of magic below, and passed straight through their stomach. She antagonized a powerful Angelic Commander until he used his Light Magic to vaporize the upper half of her body, but she fully reconstituted from her lower half.

The Goddess’ Curse is a funny thing. It shackles the human soul to the flesh and bars it from entering the Leyline of Adaptability. The Damned would remain alive through anything — suffer through the pain of organ failure, stay awake through total exsanguination, feel every single moment as their body decayed from old age. Only when their body utterly withers away to dust would they be free from pain, and even then, their soul would wander Peccatum until the end of time.

But Cadenza was a Healer, and her magic was attuned to healing. But Cadenza was born atop an Origin Pool, and her magic was deep. But Cadenza bore the Soul of Sloth, which amplified everything the closer to attunement it was.

She would always recover. She would never suffer pain. She would never die.

She would never smile again.

[marsh-potatoes]

SO much brainworms. i went to prom yesterday and i gave my gf like 3 gifts with this being one of them :DD

college clevejames date and are in love in canon and that is Law thank u very much !!!

as always james (orange) belongs to @greenes-artdump 💖💖💖💖

[ithinkdogshouldvote2]

Zenix is NOT escaping the found family. Sorry buddy, you're a Ro'meave. I know you, Garte, and Zane would be pissed about that, but you're a part of this goddamn family whether you like it or not.

[artists-who-rarely-draws]

Caught a Vibe!

Wanted to write some headcanons to boost my motivation for drabbles so enjoy!

Minecraft Diaries vs Suprise kisses from reader!

Feat: Garroth, Laurance, Zane, Vylad, Gene, Jeffory, and Cadenza

Info: G/N Reader.

pre established relationships, Zane and Gene sure are themselves lol. Pretty much just fluff. Reader instead of Aphmau in all except for Jeffory, Zane and Gene. Abby is around 5-6, Sasha and Zoey were supposed to be in this, but I got bored of this one and wanted to get it out- if yall want more or I randomly decide to write a part 2 on my own they will be the first ones in it i promise.

Warnings: (I know i said mostly fluff but im sorry) Zane is for sure his own warning but there is mentions of Jeffory's murder in his part and a implication of threatening reader in the past. Genes also not great, his reader is a little naive and he a little frames them. His powers are used but not against reader.

Requests are still open and enjoy under the cut!

Oh, Garroth, sweet, sweet Garroth.

He thinks he's so subtle, but he is not.

Your lovely boyfriend is so starved for affection but so unwilling to ask for it.

He thinks it would be improper being a guard... or at least that's what he says, but it surely stems from his affectionless household.

you catch him sometimes watching your hands or his gaze moving to your lips for only a moment.

It's incredibly endearing. And gives you an *incredibly* devious idea.

really, can you be blamed for Garroth being so fun to tease? He's such a pearl clutcher!!

Patrol reports are boring. you fully understand why they need to happen. But there's never anything to report yet. Somehow, your lovely guards can take 20 minutes to describe *nothing* .

and that's where you sit, listening to Garroth go on about the state of the forest surrounding Pheonix Drop. Turning to you asking if you have anything to add. before doing it *again* .

Crystal blue eyes looking to your lips for just a moment before they are averted.

oh, he makes it too easy.

with a simple smirk, you lean across the table to kiss him.

He goes unbelivably stiff for a moment in his shock before positivley *melting* when your hand moves to cup his warm cheek.

He lets out something between a small whine and a groan when you deepen it, His kiss is soft and sweet, with just an edge of desperation. One hand moving to cradle the back of your head a silent plea for you not to pull away just yet. eliciting a small chuckle from you.

but eventually, it must come to an end. And when you pull away, he chases after your lips for a moment a lovesick haze in his eyes, as if the entire world outside of *you* has fallen away from him. A look that warms you from the inside out and reminds you just how much you love the man in front of you.

'No nothing to add,' you coo softly before fully pulling away, looking to your other two guards. Dantes eyes wide and mouth parted, Laurances eyes were wide as well but there was a sense of amusment to it.

You cheerily excuse yourself, letting them know you will be working on some upgrades for the Plaza if they need you. Leaving behind a sputttering malfunctioning Garroth who crashed back down to earth.

You really will be the death of him.

He's just so handsome.

And his cooking smells so good, His voice is so smooth as he talks about the dish he's making, and you're so in love with the man in your kitchen.

Your relationship is already so affectionate, but will you ever really be satisfied?

You're so busy watching him and fanaticizing you dont even notice that he's stopped cooking to talk to you.

'Hey, you with me?' He asks with a chuckle, snapping you out of the daze.

You look at his slightly crooked smile, giving him a slight smirk, giving you a mischevious idea of your own. His eyebrow raises as he notices the new look in your eye.

You surge forward to kiss him, His eyes widen in slight surprise before closing and leaning further into you. But just before he can move his hands to hold onto you and deepen the kiss, you pull away. He looks down at you with a mixture of amusement and confusion one hand on your hip....

You stare into marble blue eyes for a few moments. Before lifting his hand off your hip so you can dash away laughing, the shout of 'Hey!' and the stove turning off lets you know he's in chase.

'What was all of that about?' he asks, giggling himself as he sets your feet back on the ground.

Even with your head start, you only get halfway down the stairs of the hill to the platform before you feel arms wrap around your midsection, hoisting you in the air and spinning you around with a triumphent shout. Laying quick kisses all over the side of your face as you laugh.

You just let out a contented sigh and turn your head to kiss him for real. Sweet and tender and full of giggles when you remember his shout as you ran.

Being the spouse of the high preist of O'khasis is certainly....interesting.

you know he cared for you in... some real extent. After all, he went through a lot of effort to ensure your engagement. Sabatoging your other suitors and persuading your parents.

That wasn't all it took to convince you. You're not dumb and know of the vast political advantage he gained from marrying you. You were the hier of a village that rivaled Scaleswind in size. If you were dumb you doubt Zane would hold you in any regard.

But Zane does have small moments that convince you that you mean more than just a political pawn.

You still share a bed. You knew no matter what, you would need to share a room to keep appearances, but if he didn't want you in the bed, you were certain you wouldn't be in the bed.

Most nights, you were already asleep when Zane went to bed. but sometimes you would wake up in the middle of the night, and his arm is draped over your side.

He also can be affectionate at times, mostly in public... but there are times in private his hand will find yours, or a quick kiss will be placed to your temple, hand, cheek or very occasisonally the corner of your mouth.

And in a twisted way. You had to care to make threats.

it wasn't anything overt. It was a meeting for the jury of nine. You were seated on the armrest of his throne at his behest. Which wasn't too odd. Whenever Zane saw the opportunity for a power move, he took it. and you still dont know who it was against. The audience he held... or you.

You're stuck staring at the Corpse of Jeffory the Golden Heart laying on the carpet. Zanes pitch black sword still stained with the fathers blood, tossed onto Zanes desk as he makes his way back to his throne.

He pulls you into his lap as he sits. Arms wrapped around your waist and chin resting on your shoulder.

'Let this be a lesson to the rest of you.' He looks around at the rest of the Jury of....well.. Eight gathered. 'This is what happens to those who betray me.'

His arms tighten around your midsection after that.

It's been a while since then. It's getting late, but as usual, Zane is at his desk going through paperwork. The sound of quill on paper and the crackling of the fire makes this moment feel peaceful.

You don't really know what possesed you to do this, maybe the soft light of the fire off of your husbands cheekbones in his rare moments without the mask.

That is what most makes you feel most like he cares for you.

Getting to see the freckles dusting across his light baby face. A view reserved just for you.

'Yes Lamb?' Zane speaks up, making you jump out of your thoughts. He hasnt moved his gaze from his paperwork.

You steel your resolve and get up from your spot, walking to your husbands side, He turns his head to look up to you, one eyebrow raised. Icy blue eyes bearing into you.

'Just heading to bed,' you mummer, leaning down to press a feather light kiss to the corner of his mouth. 'Good night'

you pull away pretending not to notice the way Zanes face flushes the darkest shade of red you have ever seen. And his eyes are wide in suprise.

It's actually pretty adorable, but you know it would take quite a turn if you pointed this moment out.

you go to leave the room when you feel his hand grip onto your wrist.

'Someones feeling *bold* tonight.'

Your boyfriend never really grew out of the whole 'Dissapearing act hide in the trees' thing. Even in times of peace, he goes off to watch and brood.

You suppose you can't blame him. He's been through a lot and is still constantly working towards... welll whatever his goal is. He's pretty elusive about it, but you trust him implicitly despite his insistence. You should be more cautious.

But you feel at some point that it has to be unhealthy to live amongst the trees, stewing on past atrocities rather than fostering genuine connections with people. Something you won't let stand.

'Vylad! Vylad, come on, it's time for dinner!' You call walking through the woods, trying to lure your elusive lover out.

He does not come out immediately, but you can tell you're being watched. The tell tale Goosebumps and raise of unease in your chest, The Feeling of a rabbit being stalked by a wolf and the silence of the forest confirms to you that its a Shadow knight.

You let out a huff as you immeaditly clock the game he's playing.

Vylad likes to test your survival skills from time to time. Letting people in was hard for him. A million times more difficult with the romantic context between you. Sometimes, he needed to assure himself you weren't going to do something stupid and die.

'Fine! But this isn't tag this time! I promised Levin and Malachi we would be eating dinner with them and I don't want the food getting cold' you shout out, knowing full well if Vylad had his way he would be slipping around until either you physically restrained him or he took pity on you.

So you get to work hunting through the trees. Actively going towards what causes all your instincts to scream in protest.

You grip onto the tree and swing around to meet his Pine green eyes, looking back into yours.

'A real enemy isn't going to stick in one spot because you have dinner with your sons.' Vylads voice is muffled behind his scarf as you give him a deadpan.

You reach forward to loosen his scarf just enough to free his mouth.

He instantly assumes you just didn't hear him properly and goes to repeat himself. But you press your lips to his before he can... Vylad always takes a moment, surprised that you'd want to kiss him no matter how many times you have. But he always becomes incredibly passionate, kissing you like it could be the last time.

When you finally part for air that... one of you needs much more than the other. Hands still gripping his scarf, you reply.

'Yes, I know, and Im *very* greatful you did tonight now come on they are waiting' you laugh tugging him along with you back to the village.

Being with Gene means accepting that you never really know when he's gonna drop by, He is fond of you... that's the word he uses. But of course, his plans will always come first.

So, he kinda pops in and out of your life at random, spends Irene knows how long with you, then leaves for Irene knows how long again.

Rinse and repeat.

So you've learned better than to wait around for your hell born partner.

And today you need to go on a trip to the market.

You dont actually live in a Village, you live in a cottage a fairly short walk away from Nahakra.

You make sure to only bring enough coin for what you need and decide to get a covered basket to carry it in that you could keep hooked around your elbow. Trying to minimize the chance of being targeted by any members of the Thieves' Guild. And then you head out!

The walk and most of your shopping goes without a hitch!... the keyword is most.

You had been looking at some blueberries at a stall, You had read about a blueberry tart recipe and wanted to try it out, but with the addition of lemon. Unfortunately, blueberries need much more acidic soil than your plants could handle, so the market was your only go-to.

What's worse is that you apparently weren't early enough because all of the blueberries either were under or overripe, and the ones that were good enough for you to consider taking were way out of your price range.

With furrowed brows and a huff as you stare at the price before putting down the small carton to get your last few items. You're halfway to reaching a new stall when you hear shouting

'STOP you, little Theif!' Well. It is the capital of the Theives Guild. You dont pay it any mind.... until you feel someone harshly grip your wrist and yank

you squeal and grab the wrist of the Stall owner, holding you, trying to pry your arm free from his crushing grip all the while he is screaming obscenities and accusations at you.

Apparently, the blueberries you had been scrutinizing went missing, so he assumed you must have done it.

He's shouting about what the guards will do to you, that you'll be lucky to keep your hands all the while you try to defend yourself. Insist that you didn't do it, but he's ignoring you.

'No one stole anything.' The stall owner goes silent, Gene in the villages armor... somehow? He has one arm over his shoulder and his other hand pressed against the mans forehead, his voice eerily calm. 'You were straightening out your stall, and you knocked the carton over, remember?'

The stall owners eyes are empty. Completely devoid of original thought as he nods, slowly slurring out a yeah.

'Exactly' Gene continues, taking his hand away from the mans face, light slowly reappearing in the vendors eyes as he does.

You always have to suppress a shiver in your spine seeing Gene use his Magicks.

'Now, don't you think you should give this *poor* civillian a apolagy?' He finishes, his arm tightening around the other mans shoulder .

You start to protest, but the man hurriedly apolagizes as genes arm tightens once more,

'You accept that?' Gene asks you. You nod in response, feeling relieved when he lets the vendor go

'There we go all fixed, now why dont you head back to your stall huh?'

It always amazes you how Gene can sound so polite yet so... threatening. The man wisely chooses to run back to his stall.

Gene smirks at you when you're both alone again.

'Wow, theiving, huh? Didn't think you had it in ya Doll' he starts walking away, leaving you stammering for a few moments before you jog to catch up.

You insist you didn't do it, causing him to laugh and pull out the very carton of blueberries from his bag, much to your shock and horror.

'Yeah I know' he hums handing you the offending fruit 'Honestly those prices were *criminal* someone needs to put a stop to that man' he laughs as if he didnt nearly get you arrested???? The audacity???

You proceed to ask him what the *hell* is wrong with him??? You knew he was a criminal, but you had to *live* here! You nearly got dragged to the guards over blueberries!

The man has the *Gall* to look offended, leaning over, so he's at head level with you

'Really Y/N im hurt, I get you those little blueberries you clearly wanted so bad, *and* swooped in and saved you with that guy back there and this is how you repay me??? Not even a thank you for your *Knight in shining armor* Tsk tsk'

You are feeling a mixture of emotions, annoyance, the urge to appease, ..... and a strange warmth. For better or worse, this is the man you fell in love with, horrendous quirks and all.

You lean over and press a chaste kiss to his lips and mummering a small thank you.

He blinks a few times in suprise before smirking wide to egg you on or tease when he notices you rubbing the wrist that man had grabbed, while not bruised it was certainly discolored and sore.

His already lightless eyes darken...

Irene help that mans soul.

Having just arrived home from the market, you watch from the doorway smiling wide.

Jeffory and Abby are in the den playing pretend with swords. Abby is wearing a hood to show she's the villain shouting out and attacking her father.

You loved moments like these, where the Jury of Nine didn't need your fiancée and you all could just be a normal family together. No expectations or glaring preists looming over you.

Your broken out of your thoughts by Jeffory letting out a shout, holding the sword between his arm and side as if hes been stabbed, dramtically leaning backwards slowly and dropping to his knees monolouging about how evil would never win and he would find a way to save the kingdom even in death before fully laying down on his back and letting his head plop to the side with a dramatic groan.

you can NOT help but laugh at this, You love this man, but he is a SHIT actor, and... the idea of a Jury of Nine member defeated is kinda funny, even if it was just pretend.

That alerts both of them to your presence, Jeffory cracking open one sage green eye suprised, but smiles wide moving to get up and help with your basket when Abby whacks him in the head with a sword

'Gah- Hey!! Abby, not nice!'

'You're supposed to be dead! Lay Down!'

After a quick chastizing about using her words, he does as she asks, After all, he's never reeaalllly been able to say no to her.

She gets back in character, laughing manically and saying the kingdom will finally be hers! Then, walking away from her father laughing all the while

You're getting very caught up in the drama when Abby tosses off her hood and then walks back over to Jeffory's 'body' to gasp in horror

'No!! Sir Knight!!' She cries promising to go and get help when her eyes *lock* on you.

uh oh

She runs over to her toy box and brings you a toy crown whispering to you to put it on.

You obviously do, duh.

' Your Majesty!! Your Majesty!! Sir Knight needs your magical healing powers!! Hurry before it's too late!!' she calls, grabbing your hand with her little one to pull you over to where your fiance lays on the floor.

you hold back a chuckle as you kneel on the floor next to him. " Oh, Poor Sir Knight, I see what you mean, Miss Ah -"

Abby opens her mouth to share whatever wildly elaborate name she has setled on for the game when there is a knock on the door and the muffled shout of one of the neighborhood children.

'Abby!! Abby!!! We are playing pick-up sticks, and the winner gets a sachel of candy! come play!!'

double uh oh

There's a LOUD gasp from the girl next to you. Giant puppy eyes pointed to her father, letting out a series of high-pitched pleases.

he huffs, shaking his head lightly but letting her know she can go but to be back before the sun starts setting.

She runs off , and Jeffory gives a light-hearted eye roll at the attention span of kids moving to sit up when you gave him an amused look.

"I thought you were dead, Im supposed to revive you"

He looks at you with a mixture of confusion and amusment.

you lean down to kiss him, his eyes widening in realization and excitment.

his hands wind into your hair, cradling the back of your head, entrapping you in a loving and passionate kiss.

you cradled his face in your hands in turn, reluctantly turning away when your lungs started protesting, panting for a few moments before chuckling at him.

"Healed you~ Now come on, help me put away the produce," you coo to him, standing up and heading over to your basket, hearing him rushing over to you.

he is just insaciable <3

You always made sure to have Cadenza accompany you when traveling to Metelli.

Not only for her to visit her father and friends, but because your favorite activity with each other can only be done in her home village.

A short walk from Metelli is a HUGE lush wild flower field.

The very same fields that Cadenza used to frequent before you met.

Always setting aside a afternoon if not a day of your trip to devote to your girlfriend and the flower fields, Picnics, exploring, finding flowers that remind you of the other most, making flower crowns, and to end it all off lying in the field together.

Sometimes, you accidentally find yourselves waking up there the next morning, breaking out into hushed giggles and sneaking back to your group.

You're both sitting down in the flowers, fruit sandwiches rest on napkins at your sides, Cadenza carefully crafting a very intricate flower crown while you read your book aloud to her.

Some fantasy novel you're only half paying attention to, Irene your girlfriend is so pretty. it's no wonder that a village nearly went to war over her, Irene knows you would.

That's the thought that led you to stop reading and just watch her, waiting for her to look up from her craft.

She does after only a few moments, confused and ready to ask why you stopped when you rush forward, giving her a sweet yet quick kiss.

With that out of your system, you look back to your book to continue reading to her.

Cadenza has other plans though, after processing the pleasant suprise she squeals loudly and launches forward, pratically tackling you to the ground and peppering your face in quick adoring kisses, the type you can feel her smile through, full of laughs from both you.

Only after every inch of your face has been sufficently kissed does she properly connect your lips, Her long firey hair curtining over you, completely surrounding you in *her*

And there is no place you would rather be <3

[burstfoot]

Hello! Here's an update on all of Arknights' currently accessible auxiliary material as of May 2024! There's plenty to check out, so I hope this is helpful for some!

Animation

Arknights Prelude To Dawn (S1) and Perish in Frost (S2): [Crunchyroll]

An adaptation of the main story, up through Chapter 0 to Chapter 6! It's much more fast-paced than the in-game story, so I wouldn't use it to replace actually reading it, but it's very cool to see some of these scenes in full animation. Season 3, Arknights: Rise from Ember, has been announced! Lee's Detective Agency: [Youtube]

A mini-series animated in a chibi style with a comedic tone. Focused on the adventures of the Kuroblood-illustrated Lee's Detective Agency! Distributed by Crunchyroll globally, but entirely free to watch.

Closure's Secret Files: [Youtube]

A cut-out styled series of shorts hosted by Closure which outlines a lot of the game's basic mechanics!

Holy Knight Light: [Youtube]

A short OVA focusing around Penguin Logistics delivering a package, celebrating Arknights' first anniversary. Officially posted to Youtube!

Kay's Daily Doodles: [Youtube]

Another free, comedic Youtube mini-series, posted to the offical Arknights Youtube account and focused around Ceobe! Here's some additional animations! Each event usually also has a 15 second 2D animated preview of the event, but there's so many of those that I can't list them all. Anniversary Event 3D Animations: Zwillingstürme im Herbst So Long, Adele Lone Trail Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow Il Siracusano Ideal City Stultifera Navis Invitation To Wine Near Light Dossoles Holiday Under Tides Bonus 3D Animated Shorts: Legend of Chongyue Arknights Special - IL Siracusano Lo Scontro Youtube Shorts: Ch'en and Lin's Watermelon Splitting Game Part 1 Ch'en and Lin's Watermelon Splitting Game Part 2 Amiya's Siracusan Food Guide Part 1 Amiya's Siracusano Food Guide Part 2 Amiya's Special Gift Doctor's Gifts in Return 1 Doctor's Gifts in Return 2

Comics, Manga, Manhua

Officially Translated:

Rhodes Island's Records of Originium: Rhine Lab: [Offical Source]

A canon manhua centered around the circumstances that lead to Silence falling out with Saria and joining Rhodes Island with Ifrit, as well as Ifrit's attempt to save a dying infected stowaway on the landship. Essential reading for understanding the Rhine Lab storyline and characters - read it right after Mansfield for when it was chronologically released! One of the characters, Darya, is mentioned in both Ifrit's module and briefly in Lone Trail.

Rhodes Island's Records of Originium: Blacksteel: [Official Source]

A short story focusing on the lives of the Blacksteel operators aboard the landship. While it often gets overshadowed by the Rhine Lab manga which is bigger in scope, this is a great read especially if you're interested in Franka or Liskarm.

Rhodes Kitchen -TIDBITS-: [Official Source]

An anthology story related to the cuisine that's important to a variety of operators. While it might seem unassuming, the art is gorgeous and it's really well-written! The Blacksteel, Rhine Lab, and Rhodes Kitchen manga have all been sold in physical copies, if you're interested in having them in print!

Prelude Suite: Cadenza Virtuosa: [Official Source]

An epilogue to Hortus De Escapismo focusing on Arturia's background, with the second chapter serving as a prelude for Zwillingstrume im Herbst! An excellent read to get better insight into Arturia's character.

Angelina: Sketches of this Messenger's Journey: [Official Source]

A more comedically focused manwha, centered on the adventures of Angelina travelling across Terra as a Messenger! Currently updating, with recent chapters focusing on Sami and Siesta!

Unofficially Translated

The Dagger's Inheritors: [Youtube]

A 15-minute short 3D animated film about W's past and relationship with Theresa, released for the 5th Arknights anniversary. Arknights Comic Anthology: [Mangadex]

As the title says, a series of non-canon anthology stories regarding the cast of Rhodes' Island! Some of the chapters on Mangadex for the later volumes of the Comic Anthology specifically have been machine translated, but the same is not true for the other manga shared here. Chapters are hit-and-miss, but the whole series is generally a fun read! See the original post for specific chapter suggestions.

123 Rhodes Island: [Mangadex]

A series of non-canon gag comics for the CN server, usually updated when new operators or events release!

Arknights: Operators!: [Mangadex]

A compilation of shortform manga posted on the official ArknightsJP twitter account! Thank you to @sleepywoodscans for their work on personally translating these!

Arknights: A1 Operations Preparation Detachment: [Mangadex]

Part of the Terra Historicus website and not yet officially translated, focusing on Fang, Kroos and Beagle before they join Rhodes Island, and a catastrophe striking the Columbian city of Tkaronto. Thank you to @pooce-art for their translation work!

Other:

Arknights Ambience Synesthesia: [Youtube]

A series of concerts (4 so far), focused around Arknights' music! A live performance has been done every year, with skins released in-game for the concert's theme & 3D animations produced featuring the skin's cast in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Monster Siren Records: [Spotify] [Official Website]

Arknights' official (and-in-universe) record label publishing game OSTs, themes for almost every 6 star operator that releases, and occasional bonus songs.

Arknights: Endfield: [Twitter]

An upcoming 3D action gacha game from Hypergryph, set in the far future of Arknights' universe on another planet. Currently in closed beta testing for both EN and CN servers!

UNOFFICIAL:

Some fandom-developed tools that might be of use to you are: The Arknights Terra Wiki. While it is a very accurate source for in-game data, take the explanation of in-game story and some specific claims with a grain of salt. The FANDOM version of this wiki is currently no longer mantained and subject to vandalism! Given you can translate or read Chinese, PRTS.wiki is the current best resource for game assets!

As well, the Arknights Story Reader can help you catch up on stuff you don't want to or can't read in game! Jacob Moreau on Youtube provides voiceover readings of many in-game stories as well.

Finally, Aceship's Toolbox provides access to a variety of tools, including a levelling calculator, a calculator to ensure the best recruitments, and all the CGs, backgrounds and character sprites that are available in-game as of So Long, Adele (as far as I'm aware, the sprite/cg gallery is no longer being updated.)

Conclusion:

Thank you for reading! I hope this provided some new information to you or is an easy reference source in the future. Some things, such as merch (i.e. board games) or the official lore book have not been included due to not being accessible or translated for EN players. I'm happy to continue to provide more information like this to make the art surrounding this series more accessible! If you have any questions, feel free to send me an ask.

[german-garbage]

She's so gender istg

[roxxie-spirt]

Cadenza Zvhal

She is beauty and she is grace, the best older sister. also ignore the lil text on the bottom I wrote it wrong 😭 Laurance did get saved my ungrth idk why I added those “” . I have a small like comic doodle I’m finishing up of Laurance dying his hair fire color so keep a llook out for if i end up finishing it ;3,, I love her , ill do season 2 design later 🙄

[jinkiesmariz]

Hey guys my shop is opening on Ko-Fi next week for 2 weeks on 9/20, 2pm EST !!

I’ll be selling my Kawaii-Chan/Nana, Cadenza, and Lucinda charms right now and if there’s enough demand afterwards I’lol do a preorder for the same designs + my Travis, Laurance, and Zenix charm designs !!

Wow look at them so cute so sweet!!! This batch will have epoxy resin on the front but future batches won’t!! Just letting you guys know!! Once again I’m sorry this has taken so long but thank you all for being patient with me !!!! See you in a week!

[shadowknightapologist]

miscellaneous shadow knight headcanons because i love love love them and one day i will have a proper post dedicated to them.

WARNINGS FOR: cannibalism, murder, minced meat mention?, angst.

in a sick, sad way, shad sees most of the shadow knights as his children.

shadow knights don't necessarily have to kill someone for immortality, but they do have to consume the flesh of someone living.

it doesn't ACTUALLY matter who they target; shad (and gene) just frame it as having to kill your lord or an individual you hold in high regards because 1) getting rid of lords helps in the long run, and 2) shadow knights with attachments to anything other than shad are harder to control. so convincing baby knights to get rid of those obstacles early on saves shad a lot of trouble.

as for how our shadow knight cast handled the munchies...

gene ate his lord as well as the upper-ranks sent with him (which is part of why he ranked up so quickly).

zenix ate his lord in the midst of the fire staged to kill him and his family.

vincent ate his lord/brother but he's still in denial over it (he acknowledges that he's immortal and that this immortality comes from his brother, but in his head, his brother was sick and begging for mercy; in reality, vincent flew into rage after finding out how far his brother had fallen and brutally murdered him).

amethyst attacked her father. he survived and amethyst experienced her first false death; this sparks an influx of rumors and stories about shadow knights (previously, shadow knights were extremely low-key, and only existed as folktales).

vylad attacked zianna. she survived.

sasha attacked castor's brother; castor managed to scare her off, but his brother passed away from the injuries. this is what leads to castor going "mad" and essentially being outcasted :( he was grieving and in denial and couldn't bear to tell laurance, who was grieving both sasha and joh at the time.

glenda was NOT immortal, she was planning to sacrifice cadenza + eat from her while she was still alive but aphmau kicked her ass and then laurance killed her.

and laurance, of course, hasn't attacked anyone, but he does struggle with severe intrusive thoughts and it is very, VERY hard for him not to bite while in his knight form.

shadow knight armor is attached to the skin like a shell. yes, they get parasites. yes, it hurts to have it removed or tugged on the wrong way. yes, it grows out of their skin and yes, that also hurts (only for the baby knights tho).

baby knights (and sometimes even immortal shadow knights) are known known to curl up into the fetal position and shift into their shadow knight form when they're scared. it's a defense tactic that protects their heart, especially since shadow knight armor is so hot/sharp (even to other knights). people unofficially refer to this as "armadillo-ing".

SHADOW KNIGHTS ARE NOT IMMUNE TO LAVA. that shit WILL disintegrate them. HOWEVER, since shadow knights getting perma-deathed by lava in the nether would be really bad design, this just rebirths the knight. the only exception to this is sasha and potentially one other character. some knights have come to see it as a religious thing, like a baptism.

shadow knight hair often turns into flames when they're upset, and if they're really angry, their entire body gets lit. very destructive.

shadow knights can be temporarily paralyzed by brain trauma (usually stabbing something through their head; they'll be mobile again once the object is removed or the injury closes up) and weakened by being doused in water or left in the cold.

baby knights can be killed via holy magic, decapitation, mincing the body, water, the cold, or old age (they actually age much faster in the overworld, but slower in the nether). they can go months without food, water, or sleep before it starts to take a toll on them.

immortal shadow knights cannot truly be killed unless their heart is devoured (more on this on the next point). mostly, their bodies are permanently destroyed and they become a shadow soul. immortal shadow knights do not need food, water, or sleep but will sometimes indulge if they're feeling... nostalgic. or particularly empty.

shadow knights can only absorb power from each other by eating the heart. this is 1) difficult because you have to LITERALLY tear the shadow knight apart to get to their heart, and 2) terrifying even to shadow knights. it's called "the final death". this is why zenix becomes so infamous.

"false deaths" are only experienced by baby knights. baby knights don't ACTUALLY die to most mortal deaths, but because they're not immortal, their body still thinks it needs to take care of itself like usual and tricks the brain into thinking they're dying when they're not (it's similar if they're stabbed or something; the body goes "YOU ARE BLEEDING OUT" and assumes the result is death). when this happens, they go dormant from anywhere between a few minutes to a few days. when they wake, they'll be perfectly fine. no scars, no nothing.

inspired by @/chvsire and some other users i can't find (thanks tumblr)—shadow knights occasionally have traits resembling real-world predators or nether mobs. whether this has a rank/role purpose or just happens, i've not decided lmao.

shadow knights may also be based off biomes. bc pretty.

some ideas for predators that i have are: bird of prey (shad), feline (gene), dog or wasp (laurance), shark or alligator (zenix), snake (sasha)... and then i got nothing LMAO.

immortal shadow knights don't really... reincarnate? they have to be magically assisted in order to cross over the purgatory, where their memories will be locked away and they'll be sent to live again. it's kinda like what death does for sam winchester in supernatural—if they were to push too hard, the memories and power would be fully accessible. this is different for other souls, who face judgement and then are either permitted or forbidden from reincarnating. if they ARE reincarnated, their memories are completely removed. or something. i'll figure it out.

om i think that's gonna be it for now :3