#Is Aion okay

[teecupangel]

Just a little weird but would it be fun for Desmond to be a demi god or something and he does not know.

In the past ofcourse

It would be so easy to give that child the power of our artifacts and let him do as he pleases in any time that we have decided on but…

Shall we make it more interesting?

We shall let that child believe he is still human and will not place any markings upon him to show his change of status.

(Shall we let him have a blackened arm still or shall we also give him false relief?)

We will not upgrade his Vision as well.

(Although, at this point, we can be certain he has already mastered it to its fullest potential.)

And we will leave no instructions nor any messages for him but we shall give him a ‘gift’ worthy of his status.

He shall have the power to bend reality to his will thru the use of the Parcae System.

As you must have already received the latest draft of Parcae System’s user manual, I will only give a brief introduction to the system.

We will set that child as the sole user of the latest beta version of the Parcae System. The system itself have three major requirements to be activated:

Requirement 1: Another person must start the line that will be set into reality with “I wish…”. No variations (ex: “It would be nice if…”, “I hope…”, etc) will be accepted.

Requirement 2: Desmond must agree to that wish verbally. Simply thinking it will not activate the system.

Requirement 3: Both 1 and 2 must be done in succession and 2 must be done a minute or less after 1 is complete.

Only when all three requirements are satisfied will the Parcae System activate.

The Parcae System is, of course, limited to the possible branches available in the Calculations.

And it must always keep the changes to a minimum as to not cause too large waves.

And it is only allowed to not change reality if and only if the branch it will move to will not interfere with the system’s main objective:

“Keep Desmond Miles alive.”

Of course, this system was hastily created during the final days of Minerva of the Capitoline Triads.

As such, it is not without any flaws.

As you have noted in your previous report, this system does not have a failsafe for any changes that would affect us or those who have created us.

You have suggested we force the system to exclude us from any changes the child would create but is it not a good reward for that child to be given the choice of the fate that awaits us if he does learn of us?

Does the thrill of finally being shut off not excite you, Chronus?

Looking forward to your inputs and recommendations,

Aion

[mey-rin-is-fabulous]

So I have affectionately dubbed this clip ‘The Frying Pan Incident’ and you will see why.

Crow: Kosuke Yonehara

Aion: Teruma

Yaiba: Torigoe Yuki

Rom: Takigawa Eiji

[teamfortresstwo]

Okay nightmare theproject blunt rotation Oulixes, Dalilah, Aion, Dolos, August, Eris and Alias. Not just because of them individually but because of their combined dynamic.

Oh that would be so fucking fucked up . I suddenly understand Oulixes because if I got high under these circumstances I probably would hit the Usotsuki special as well

[fated-normal-767]

Is Hannah the one letting her in ? Do this not have security ?

(Aion malding like ‼️‼️ WHAT HAPPENED TO NOT INTERFERING ‼️⁉️)

Okay I confess I phrased it confusingly she works freelance she can be there but. I mean cmon she doesn’t fucking need to be. her ass is NOT working get her the fuck out ‼️‼️‼️‼️

[four-of-them-showdown]

Propaganda under the cut!!

Uriel, Sun Wukong, ABFD, Secretive Plotter:

"Okay so like imagine that you're bored as hell looking through livestreams until you come across this fucking insane man with no face. You then preceed to essentially cyberbully/stan him for all eternity. And this happens to three other people who also wont shut the fuck up about this man, so you more or less become a fanclub for this cringefail maniac. Also, yes, that's Uriel from the Bible except she's wlw and keeps shipping the insane faceless guy with his super hot extremely murderous companion. ABFD is a 14 year old chunni, Sun Wukong is THAT Sun Wukong and ends up adopting the crazy guy as his brother. And then Secret Plotter [■ ■ ■] [■ ■ ■] [■ ■ ■] and ends up becoming the adoptive father of [■ ■ ■] and raises [■ ■ ■] with his companions from [■ ■ ■]. They don't rly have a group name (although three of them DO form an idol group) from what I remember so you can just call them the Kim Dokja fanclub."

Crow, Aion, Yaiba, Rom:

"They’re all so stupid (affectionate)"

[atopearth]

Norn9: Var Commons Part 7 - Akito Shukuri Route

I am very intrigued by the relationship Akito and Nanami share since he obviously knows her powers and whatever she's done in the past. And I have a soft spot for Akito because he's always so considerate towards others by cooking for them all the time and teaching others. I'm glad Heishi stood up for Nanami when Akito couldn't hide his utter disdain towards having to be paired with Nanami. Akito's hatred for Nanami really runs quite deep, although I can understand why he slapped her hand away and wouldn't want Nanami to touch him since touching someone is how she erases memories. I love how Nanami is basically stalking him lmao, I mean I guess it is monitoring haha. I died when Akito was confused about whether he was scared or not of the Hiyoko? that looks like a penguin hahahaha, even his fear is confused😂 HAHAHA, I love Hiyoko Channel and how they bribe Natsuhiko with books and stuff to interview him. It's so cute how one alcoholic drink is his limit, lmao when he took the gun out when the hiyoko called him adorable for that being his limit though😂 Can Akito see and talk to Aion?? Maybe after talking to her, she gives him the water powers? Honestly, it always feels so bad to see and hear how much guilt Nanami feels, enough that she's basically ready to die if Akito wants it and that's very saddening. Of course Akito is too kind to even think about wanting that though. His look of concern towards Nanami when he grabbed her as she nearly fell to her death was very telling of how he really feels. Lmao, I love Kakeru so much, he's had enough of their arguing so he got some handcuffs specifically made just to force them to get along better hahaha. How will Akito cook in peace?!

Heishi is so random it's hilarious. I love how he was talking about rainbows with Ron, and he was like can you just get to the point hahaha. Poor Akito got electrocuted lol! I guess having Kakeru get sick now is the only way to keep Akito and Nanami stuck together haha, a mad Koharu is always the best. It's tough seeing Nanami and Akito together because as Masamune said, Akito gets hurt when he says crap about Nanami too. He tries his best to distance himself from her so he won't know anything about her circumstances and can keep on hating her, but the more he talks with her, the more he's starting to understand that she hates her powers and for having using used it in the past, and that makes it hard for him to continue hating her. Akito reassuring Nanami that Mikoto and Ron will be okay in his own rough way was sweet. Seeing Nanami so genuinely smile and feel happy that Akito truly is a kind person even to someone he hates so much is so heartwarming. The first thing I thought of was they could just check if the barrier around the ship is still up to see if Mikoto is alive, so I'm glad Nanami realised that haha. LOL at Nanami nuzzling herself against Akito's fluffy ears in the dream hahaha! It was so cute when he ran away lmao. Even though Nanami is still understandably confused, I was really happy when Akito hugged her in real life after the dream and tried to tell her that the one who tried to kill her wasn't him. I'm glad he's communicating with her trying to tell her that he knows that whatever happened in the past isn't completely her fault and that he doesn't blame her as much anymore, or at least not to the extent that he still wants her to die for it.

It's actually pretty hilarious that Nanami has a solid reason for ruining food, or at least Akito's food, and it's because she doesn't want to get used to how good it is otherwise she won't be able to eat ninja/emergency rations anymore haha! I really like how considerate and thoughtful Heishi is in this route. He always asks Nanami what she wants, checks how she's doing, doesn't force her to do anything but basically lets her know that if she doesn't want to stay with Akito as his partner, she can change any time. It's really nice to see how supportive and kind he is to watch out for her all the time because she doesn't watch out for herself. Akito so thoughtfully caring for Nanami is still the best though, so cutee🥰 I can totally understand why Nanami is scared though. I don't think I could handle Akito hating her again either when he's been so gentle now, it would break my heart too. Omg, when Akito called Nanami cute, I died, they're so adorable. I was so happy for Akito and Nanami when they finally talked and Akito acknowledged that he was selfish and confusing because of his actions towards her. It was so nice when he hugged her. And I was so happy when Heishi was happy and relieved for them because they both finally had a proper talk. I appreciate Heishi so much in this route. It was so sweet when Nanami told Akito that she told Heishi she wanted to stay by Akito's side🥹 On the other hand, I am very curious about this love triangle with Kakeru, Koharu and Senri, like I'm so invested in what's going to happen to them, I hope no one dies. HAHAHA, I died when Akito basically said Nanami was prettier than Koharu and Mikoto, and Nanami responded saying he needs to see an optometrist😂 Omg, I loved it when Nanami asked for Akito's necktie instead of jewellery, that's definitely much more special! Akito so straightforwardly calling Nanami pretty because he finally realised that Nanami doesn't understand his tsundere attitude was so cute hahaha, he tried so hard that Nanami even fainted because of how overwhelmingly sweet it was hahahaha.

I feel really silly for not realising that Senri is actually Akito's younger brother when they both have the power of water. I was so happy for Senri when he realised he has a brother, it must have been so heartbreaking for Akito all this time to have been right next to him but not be able to be with him because Senri doesn't have memories of Akito. How could he not hate Nanami when Senri was always there reminding him of what he could have but can't have now. Akito kissing Nanami was so cuteee, how did Nanami even resist hahaha. It was nice to know that Akito asked Kakeru to take care of Senri and that's why he always bothered him. I won't say Kakeru was always "right" in the way he dealt with Senri but I do agree with Akito that it did help Senri come out of his room more. I thought Shiro was Kakeru's real dad all this time but he actually captured Kakeru when he was really young and brainwashed him before he was saved by The World?! I feel so bad for Kakeru... Seeing Akito push himself using powers when he's not a proper esper and slowly kill himself is just so tough to watch, especially since you can see how concerned Nanami is. I won't deny that Akito kissing her to reassure her was pretty cool though hahaha. I'm so glad Nanami remembered Akito's advice and stopped herself from adding random stuff to the rice porridge she made for Akito haha. Funnily though, I just realised that Akito hasn't cooked in his own route much at all lol! Now that we know Senri is Akito's little brother, it really makes all those times Akito cooked Senri's favourite food and stuff so much more meaningful, especially when they go back into the past and see how happily Senri talked about loving Akito's cooking and how much he loved Akito.

I don't blame Nanami because she was forced to erase Senri's memories of Akito, especially since the village people really might have killed Akito to make Senri continue to provide water for their village at the cost of his health and probably his life. But I can understand Akito's hatred especially before he got to know Nanami. Not only did Akito lose his little brother and their whole relationship, but he also lost the ability to protect his brother properly because of it, and that's caused Senri so much pain considering how Akito was the only one who actually cared for him. Senri became all alone and became afraid of people to the point that he doesn't want to interact with anyone, how could Akito and Nanami not feel guilt over that. I couldn't help but cry over Akito and Senri's past. It's so disgusting that the village people chased after Akito who was still a child to kill him just in case Senri remembers him. I can't imagine how terrible Akito must have felt to be forced to leave Senri behind. And I can't imagine what kind of life Senri had to live as basically a doll to give water to this village that just uses him and destroyed the only person who cared about him and made him all alone and think that he can't trust anything or anyone.

I can see why Akito blames himself and why he couldn't help but hate Nanami as a way to cope with everything, and yeah I can understand that the villagers were desperate but if you're so desperate to save yourselves that you lose your humanity for it, is there even any point in living? If you have to kill a child and force another child to basically be a slave that only exists to do your bidding, is that kind of life worth living? I don't have the answer for that, because many people desperately try their best to live for their own reasons, but knowing that these people didn't even hesitate in choosing to kill children to save themselves disgusts me, especially since the only reason presented in the game was that they didn't want to move somewhere else because this land has always been their ancestors etc so they had to keep it alive. Land that is only prosperous from exploiting children shouldn't exist at all. And lol as usual, this game really likes to skip over the plot, because they literally just said Aion broke and that's all! Lmao when Akito hid in his bed to hide from facing Senri, they're both so scared of facing each other, they're both so adorable😂😂 I really enjoyed how happy the ending was but I really wanted to see Akito and Senri talk!! Hopefully we get it in Last Era. The tragic love ending was pretty sad because Akito chose to live in a fake past where he could protect Senri and save the village, and Nanami chose to stay with him there. Akito trying his best to make jounamagashi because Nanami didn't get a chance to try it was so sweet. Seeing him do so much research and try his best to make it properly was so cuteee, especially when he faced against the hiyokos and didn't let his fear overwhelm him because he prioritised wanting to make Nanami happy.

Overall, I think Akito had the most satisfying route from beginning to end out of everyone so far. There's still some flaws of course but negligible because Akito was great. I loved seeing the progression of Akito's hatred to understanding and then love. I think the best thing was that even though you know Akito really hated Nanami for some reason, you could also see that he was too nice of a person to truly hate her, I'd say Nanami hated herself more than Akito did. It was really cute to see them awkwardly dance around each other's feelings, be confused about their romantic feelings for each other but still want to be beside the other despite the past. I love how he acknowledged that he distanced himself from Nanami not only because he hated her for what she did, but also because if he didn't know her, it was easier to hate her and blame her. Honestly, I really wished we got a proper reunion between Akito and Senri but I loved their back story and Akito's hatred was totally understandable in the end even if Nanami was forced to do what she did. And the romance was honestly really cute! They're both so shy and awkward at times, but also super adorable in how honest they can be. I loved it when they both tried to get the other to say their first name haha, definitely the best overall route! Kakeru is still my favourite guy though!

[alovelyburn]

I wonder if Griffith was partly inspired by the Orphic deity Phanes. Phanes was an androgynous, two-natured, dualistic winged being who was born from a cosmic “world egg”. His parents were the concepts Chronos (time) and Ananke (fate) & his name literally means “to bring light” (which is appropriate bc Mr. Hawk of Light was inspired by Paradise Lost’s Lucifer aka Mr. Lightbringer himself). In some myths he’s known as Eros (desire), whom the Gnostics believed existed between light and darkness.

Sorry it took a thousand years to respond to this - I wasn't very familiar with Phanes (Eros yes, Phanes no) so I wanted to read more into it, but I have no time ever.

So here's what I found, which I imagine is more informative to people who arent you, anon!:

"Aion, Time or Eternity personified, brought into the existence the world egg. From this egg emerged Phanes either with or without the intevention of Chronos (time, who might or might not have been Aion) and Ananke (inevitability).

Phanes’ name means “light bringer”, but in the Orphic tradition Phanes was the Greek god of Creation and Life, from whom all subsequent life developed. If comparing the Hesiod and Orphic traditions, then Phanes might be equated with the Protogenoi Eros.

It is perhaps incorrect to called Phanes a god, for he was considered to be both male and female, beautiful in appearance, with golden wings, intertwined with a serpent’s tail." Source

The Orphics equated Phanes with the elder Eros (Desire) of Hesiod's Theogony. "A mystic divinity in the system of the Orphics, is also called Eros, Ericapaeus, Metis, and Protogonus. He is said to have sprung from the mystic mundane egg, and to have been the father of all gods, and the creator of men." - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology Source

And then a whole load of stuff from, of course, Wikipedia:

Phanes was a deity of light and goodness, whose name meant "to bring light" or "to shine"; a first-born deity, he emerged from the abyss and gave birth to the universe.

In the Orphic tradition, Dionysus-Protogonos-Phanes is a dying and rising god. Eusebius tells us the story of his death and recreation:The Titans boil the dismembered limbs of Dionysus in a kettle, they roast him on a spit and eat the roasted "sacrificial meat", but Athena rescues the still-beating heart[13] from which (according to Olympiodorus)[14] Zeus is able to recreate the god and bring him back to life.

The roasted "sacrificial meat" of Phanes may be associated to the Cannibal Hymn. The Cannibal Hymn preserves an early royal butchery ritual in Ancient Egypt, in which the deceased king , assisted by the god of wine Shezmu, slaughters, cooks and eats the gods as sacrificial bulls, thereby incorporating in himself their divine powers in order that he might negotiate his passage into the Afterlife. These sacrificial bulls are also referred to Mithraism. Through Mithraism and its lion headed figures, Phanes could also be associated to Ahura Mazda.

Also this is him:

Okay so. Obviously not a 1:1, but we have a lot of common elements with Griffith for sure:

-An androgynous entity that emerges from a cosmic egg. It's also interesting that in some versions Phanes emerges along with or helped by Inevitability and Time, which also seems relevant.

-A god of light born from the Abyss.

-Equated with a god of desire, who exists between light and dark.

-The image of a winged being entwined by serpents is very reminiscent of the Holy See's symbol.

-A dying-and-resurrecting god whose initial death starts with torture and then descends into cannibalism, recreated by the will of the King of Gods (or in Griffith's case the only God, but if you consider the Godhand to send in for ancient deities as it seems they may, then I suppose IoE would be the head of the pantheon)

-I also think it's incredibly interesting that Phanes seems to be embroiled in a leadership cycle where one generation passes the holy scepter to the next, each of which seems to come with its own pantheon - the Titans for Chronus, the Olympians for Zeus. That seems very reminiscent of one of the major theories of the Godhand cycle.

-Also interesting that Phanes himself is a primordial/first God, but is also associated with the theoretical heir to the throne of Zeus, Dionysus.

-Phanes is the creator of man - Griffith isn't obviously the creator of man, but he is the embodiment of man's will and perhaps in charge of creating the next era. Because of the theory that Femto is the heir to Void's role basically.

-Semi-bird themed and helmeted.

Yeah, I think it's a pretty good bet that Griffith was inspired by Phanes. Particularly because when you look at the old set of Godhand from Skull Knight's flashback you see some variants on Hellenic deities (Artemis of Ephesus).

I actually wonder more about the belief that Griffith was inspired by Lucifer. I mean he was inspired by Ryo Asuka who was inspired by Lucifer, but I've never actually seen any statement that Miura was directly inspired by Dante rather than being second-hand inspired through Go Nagai. I did look around for info on this but the only thing I found was someone kind fo arbitrarily associating circles of hell with random enemies in Berserk.

Not that I would necessarily disagree particularly as Miura was obviously very interested in religious iconography and classic works. I'm just wondering if that's an assumption because of some of the shared themes or if Miura said something about it at some point.

[smallraindrops-blog]

"Two separate Gods so alike, they are mistaken as one." Hm hmmmmmm

Okay, so right off the bat, we know Dionysus and Zagreus are often mixed with one another, but I don't believe Dionysus would be Y/n father. It's just... doesn't seem right (or I'm missing something).

Next, we have Chronos and Cronos, whose names often get them confused with one another, but I don't think they have overlapping domains. Chronos is the personification of time, while Cronos was a god of harvest and a Titan. (Chronos is sometimes also equated to another Titan called Aion, Titan/God of eternity, personifying cyclical and unbounded time.) So maybe there's something there with time and memory? I feel this one is a stretch...

I know there are a few other myths, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment, so I'll have to sit and stew while I try to remember. ;w;

[anonyhex]

Grabbed from @odessa-castle

Rules:Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it. Tag as many people as wips.

I'm not gonna tag people because these days I mostly interact with other writers on discord so I'm not sure who all would be here. ^^;; but please feel free to grab for yourself! BG3:

Brucan Bulb ch. 2

Confessional scene spitballing

All Just a Trick of the Light

The Charlatan's Song (ch 1?)

(kink meme) Wyll/Astarion, post-game, adjustment period outline

Chrono Crusade:

Chrono failed rule 1

Chrono SL 2 Trauma Boogaloo

On Edge first sorta confession

On Edge priest roleplay scene

On Edge chp 8

'Holiday' fic - Joshua/Azmaria

Joshua/Aion sketch -- On Edge scene, post-Rosette illness

Joshua/Aion sketch - writing practice

Chrono and Fiore sketch July 2018

Okay everything else looks like homework from when I was in college....I think.

(...I am a little dismayed at how many docs are random unorganized stuff for On Edge...)

[liminalitycarb]

Xenoblade 2 - Final Chapter (Part 9) - And thus, boy met girl.

It's time to defeat the Artifice Aion, and Malos, with the power of TWO BLADES AT ONCE!

..seriously, why don't we do this sort of dual-wielding more often?

Everyone's giving it their all! And I learned that Tora's shield is apparently A ROCKET LAUNCHER AS WELL.

Can you still not see Malos? Are the particle effects in front of your eyes too big and blinding for you to see? Maybe you should turn effects off.

Malos.. I am not sure if you're underestimating Rex, or if you're intentionally trying to push him to be better now.

And these next few shots just sum up Rex's determination throughout most of this game perfectly.

And thankfully, Rex is also not doing this for any one person. This is HIS will at play. Sure, overall he's doing it for everyone, but he's doing it for himself first. Rex has found himself some purpose.

Jin didn't want to die, he just wanted to go out on a date with you Malos! Can't you see? Or if not a date, he wanted to just hang out at least. And if destroying the world was how you wanted to spend time together, he was okay with it!

..wait... that isn't a good thing...

Okay, Malos is being a bit realistic here. So many people died and I guess Malos realized what was ACTUALLY going on at some point, but yeah... once you start trying to genocide, it's KINDA hard to get forgiveness..

Rex.. I get what you're saying at a conceptual level. I really do. But maybe don't outright forgive the person in the process of committing world-wide genocide...

Wait... Was that Shulk's voice? Is... isn't that what Shulk said during his fight with Zana? Does that mean the endings of Xenoblade 1 and 2 take place AT THE EXACT SAME TIME? I was assuming some sort of time-dilation shenanigans but I guess not.

Our time to beat Malos is running out.. Though I still don't know why the conduit will disappear...

....wait... I just realized Alvis was that 3rd Core Crystal of the Trinity Engine wasn't he...

[othercat2]

This Crossover is Full of Pandaemonium

Chrono Crusade and SVSSS is an almost perfect fit.

Chrono Crusade: Girl makes a contract with a devil in order to find her brother. They both become exorcists of a demon-hunting religious order to do this. It turns out that the "devils" are actually aliens! Key bit of information about these devils: Devils are composed of cells referred to as "Legion." (I tended to interpret them as being biotechnic organisms, basically nanotech Bee People.) The manga ending features the antagonist trying to set off a Grey Goo apocalypse because he hates imperialism that much. He's stopped by Chrono, the titular demon of the manga series. The success is Pyrrhic though, and the ending made me bawl my eyes out.

Anyway! Say it turns out that the SVSSS Heavenly Demons are Heavenly in the sense that they are aliens! Specifically, the Chrono Crusade aliens. But not as a precise crossover. This was a different ship, a different cosmic accident, that crashed and resulted in the PIDW Heavenly Demons. (And the passengers, not the crew, which is why they don't have horns putting them under the control of the ship.)

In addition, because why not include the transmigrator elements, lets have either Chrono (one of the two protagonists) or Aion (the antagonist), or both end up in PIDW verse.

Choose your player:

Aion: Okay so, Aion is a monster. He cannot help being a monster because the ritual that would have permanently enslaved him to a horrifying gestalt of screaming ghosts being used as fuel/computer/life support system went wrong and as a result, he has a deep and utter loathing for any form of hierarchal control. It probably didn't help that the Elders of his community decided to put down him and his entire generation because something went wrong. (This does not stop him from taking advantage of it.) To make things worse, he is an idealistic monster, in the sense that he believes that his actions are correct and righteous, and in a certain sense they very well might be. Our boy could be best said to be an anarchist. He believes that the mass extinction event he's trying to trigger will lead to a better, more peaceful, with a better and kinder way of life. However, he's going about it in a way that is utterly lacking in individual compassion for the folks he's willing to murder for his cause. (I kind of headcanon him as being neurodivergent. I played and wrote him as somewhat unable to grok actual social cues, and made him the kind of literal-minded where you just go down a rabbit hole of why certain phrases mean certain things, which is more or less canon because he keeps mixing up common aphorisms or remembering them incorrectly in canon.)

Chrono: Our boy is Aion's brother. Chrono adored and believed in his brother and what he thought was their joint goal of freedom and safety from their people, who were still trying to hunt them down. His faith is shaken after a sequence of events that results in the death of Mary, the woman they both care about. Aion kills the woman, who has vast gifts of precognition because the woman was subsumed by the Horrifying Ghost Gestalt Monster. He believed there was no hope and no cure, and because Aion is a kind of a complete bastard, he ordered Chrono to kill her. Chrono objects and tries to run for it with Mary, but Mary ends up dead anyway. Chrono possessed greater compassion and empathy for individuals. (Also neurodivergent, but in a slightly different way. His behavior seems to indicate that he was probably the one assigned as the "responsible one" in childhood. He's very empathetic and protective of those he's close to. He's gentler than Aion, buuut paradoxically more likely to go absolutely berserk if a loved one is threatened.)

Both these boys have so much fucking ptsd.

Both can almost look completely human except for their hair and eyes. (Aion: white hair, light purple eyes, Chrono, red eyes, purple hair. I might make them better and disguises.)

The possibilities of who I could stick them with are endless. Aion would probably go to ground and become a crime boss. This is what he knows, and would be good at, even in Fantasy Ancient China. Possibly he gets involved with demonic cultivators because that is also a part of his mo. Those demonic cultivators will probably end up very dead, but no great loss. An interesting story might be Aion taking in Shen Jiu, or stumbling across bitty!Mobei-jun. Or both! Aion would probably be in a crisis of faith because of having been defeated/stopped by Chrono, but would start weaving new plots almost immediately because fuck all hierarchal systems.

Chrono on the other hand is usually moved to support. What Chrono knows is "exorcism" which is essentially being a demon hunter. Our boy ends up going on a lot of night hunts, and maybe acquires a social network that way. He'd make an extra effort to seem human. He'd end up becoming very well known as a "cultivator." I would also want to have him maybe run into Shen Jiu or maybe Shang Qinghua. Or maybe Su Xiyan.

[ichoric]

@metoikhomai said: aion picks up a snail and brandishes it toward artemis' face. "why, in the name of the star, does this have armor?"

' because ! it is a miserable story of pain and loss ... ' a small hand rises to her chest, right over her heart, as if experiencing this memory first - hand. ' i accidentally stepped on a slug and it was okay, but i started wondering .... what if they had armor ? they would be so much safer from us big creatures and the elements. ' artemis reaches for the snail and takes it into her palm. ' now my little guy is ready for war. '

[theunboundwriter]

Find The Word Tag

Thank you for the tag @writingpotato07 !! I enjoyed reading your writing as always :)

My words are: Touch, Embrace, Kind, Phone, Easy

I tag (with no pressure) @fearofahumanplanet , @harinawa , and @inkspellangel

Your words are: Attention, Right, Yellow, Tired, and Hand

(If you don't have a word share a fun fact of your choice!)

Touch:

From The Prices We Pay             Kendyleigh fell to the ground, knees hitting hard and tears already beginning to fall from her eyes. Her face contorted in the most severe sorrow she had ever felt, and she clutched the fallen form of the eight-year-old in her arms. She gently touched where the arrow had entered his abdomen, hand coming back the ugliest shade of red she had ever seen.             It was like the world came to a stop. The Earth stopped spinning, the stars blinked out, and nobody dared to breathe. Kendyleigh screamed, the most heart-wrenching sound to ever reach the ears of the soldiers watching the scene with grim faces. Everything moved in slow motion, Kendyleigh cradling the boy close to her, holding onto him like a lifeline. Heavy tears fell from her eyes, streaming down her face in a hideous display. 

Embrace:

From Tales From The Other Place             Jack thought he knew the cold embrace of Death well. He had first met her when he was only a child. She had watched over him, looking down at him with a warm smile, her tender hands brushing over his cheeks to dry his tears. Sometimes, if he stared long enough, he thought she looked like his mother. 

Kind:

From The Sea is in Her Blood             Her thoughts were racing at a million miles a minute, her heart beating just as fast. She hated feeling this helpless and vulnerable. Never before in her life had she felt this pathetic. Weakness was not a color she wore well, and she had always fought off any emotion that wasn’t pride. And to be overwhelmed by such feelings of fear and uncertainty, completely at the mercy of these strangers with nothing to defend herself but her word, left her feeling worthless. She had to fight against every order and suggestion, because that is all she had ever known. Surely, they couldn’t be doing these things just for the sake of being kind and to care for her wellbeing, because no one had ever treated her in such a way. 

Phone:

From It All Started At The End "I'll deliver your next assignment in a few days."              And Aion drove off, leaving Jadyn standing alone in the dark, empty parking lot. He glanced at the photos in his hand, and then at Aion's retreating headlights.               Jadyn punched a number into his phone, then brought it to his ear.               "Hey, Gabbie. No, nothing's wrong. What? Can't a guy just want to talk with his cool older sister? Okay. Put Rumpelstiltskin on the phone. No, I will not stop calling him that. He's my nephew, I'll call him what I want."

Easy:

From The Prices We Pay             Kendyleigh was overcome by a violent shudder, cutting off her words as she pressed her lips together tight to suppress a scream. Her head began to spin once again, and all she could do was close her eyes as she waited for the vertigo to pass.              Jack watched her with mindful eyes, taking in every small movement she made and every shattered breath of air she took. She looked utterly broken, and that was not something he was used to seeing on her. Kendyleigh was the strongest person he knew, never once seeming fragile or easy to break. She faced every obstacle head on, and he was fairly certain he had never seen her cry before. The tears that silently spilled down her cheeks were a sad sight, even more so than the terrible event that had taken place only a few moments ago, a reminder of what had happened still evident in the arrow that was left unattended. Kendyleigh’s tears meant that she was in pain, that she was hurting in a way that Jack could never comprehend. And there was nothing he could do for her.

[teamfortresstwo]

therapy au oulixes would be so funny he’d be complaining about how nothing is interesting and Aion would be like . Okay have you tried doing things without predicting what happens first or doing something unpredictable and he’s just . ❓ no? why would I do this ?

Tbh I do get him . It’s more thrilling to do something dangerous but you have to ask if it’s worth the risk . For a man with as much to lose as Oulixes, I doubt it would be often .

[fae-fucker]

Breaking Time: Part 5

Chapter 21: Klara

Klara wakes up in the middle of the night and DUN DUN, Llaw is there!

What is also there is the mysterious weird sparkly dust stuff that I assume will be relevant at some point. It’s similar to the dust she saw in the forest earlier but also different.

Llaw explains that he can’t hurt her “here” because it’s “neutral ground”, we don’t find out exactly why not or what “here” is as per usual. Klara is worried about the magic dust in the air and that’s the part Sasha thinks we need explaiend at the moment:

“What is this?” she asked, fearing the worst. “Have you done something?”

“The matter between worlds.” Llaw outstretched his hand. There was reverence, even awe, in the gesture. “One cannot travel between them without bringing something along, too. With enough discipline, it’s like any other material.”

Klara remembered her meeting with Cernunnos. An idea took hold. Her eyes snapped back to Llaw. “I’m dreaming.”

He clapped his hands. He strode across the room and settled himself in the armchair Klara had fallen asleep in. “Now you’re getting it, Pillar.”

“I prefer Klara, thanks,” she said easily. “If I’m dreaming, then why are you here?”

He shrugged, but the gesture looked unnatural on him. Inhuman. “It’s your dream.”

She scoffed. “It’s a nightmare, then.”

“A nightmare. I like that.” He flashed his teeth. “In the flesh.”

Sooo ... “neutral ground” just means her dream? Why don’t you just say that, sir? Neutral ground has different connotations, especially when this setting deals with different worlds.

Also, I’ve never seen “outstretched” used as a verb and I think I hate it? I don’t think it’s a verb, native English speakers don’t correct me if it is because you’re wrong.

Llaw suggests that they work together, somehow, even though he needs to kill her. When Klara points this out, he just skirts the question, and I don’t think Sasha intended that. She just can’t write dialogue for shit, so Llaw spouts the same type of mystical wank that doesn’t mean anything, sounding exactly like Arianrhod and Aion and Cernunnos and Grams.

“You don’t have to die,” he said. “Klara.”

“You don’t have to kill me,” she quipped. “See? Two can play at that game.”

Omg the girlboss is quippiiiiing! Sooo badass and quirky!!

Kill me now.

Anyway, Llaw jumpscares Klara into waking up. Then she mopes for a bit and gets ready to leave for the next mystic center. Riveting chapter all around. And so enlightening!

Okay, to beat a dead horse, I need to talk a bit about the, uh, storytelling choices of this book. I know it’s becoming rather unpopular to cut down scenes and dialogue and description for the sake of plot and keeping things in motion to hold the reader’s limited attention. I agree that encouraging storytellers to focus on action and moving the plot forward at the cost of character and world and emotion makes for very drab and soulless works of art. The Marvelization of storytelling, if you will.

BUT, I feel like you, as a writer, still need to know why a scene exists in your book. You’re writing a book, not a fanfic, so you have a limited word count by definition of the medium. Part of being a writer is to use words wisely. Not every scene has to move the plot forward, but every scene needs to serve some sort of purpose, multiple if you’re sexy, and it has to be as clear as you can make it. On one end there’s cutting vital parts of your book to hold the reader’s attention, on the otherthere’s wasting your reader’s time with bland, boring scenes or monologues that repeat themselves because you have nothing else to put in your book.

I’m an overwriter and following the “keep everything and just ramble for the art of it!” is a very dangerous philosophy to follow, which means editing is vital for someone like me. Luckily, it’s something you can outsource if you’re, say, publishing traditionally. If you’re, say, a popular YouTuber with a guaranteed audience who can definitely afford an editor.

So ... WHAT is the purpose of this scene? What new things did we learn? About the plot, about the characters, about the world? What things did we learn that required a whole chapter, that couldn’t be included as tidbits in previous exposition-dumps by previous characters fulfilling the same role? Klara and Callum just keep unintentionally summoning random mystical beings that spout nonsense at them and then vanish. Why did it have to be Llaw this time, why did it have to be in Klara’s dream again, why did he need to reiterate that Klara’s powers are growing? It’s just filler. It’s just Sasha trying to keep us interested by reminding us that the threat totally exists, guys! He just can’t do anything in this particular scene, but he’s totally gonna show up in the climax, so stick around for more boring bullshit first!

Moreover, what does this say about Llaw, as an antagonist? He reaffirms his want to control the worlds, shit we already knew. He’s apparently willing to heed the unconscious summons of his enemy, which paints him as either powerless to stop her or petty in a very pathetic sort of way. Neither of those are the intent. The only new thing we learn is that he’s potentially willing to work with Klara, but he doesn’t even offer why or try to entice her into it, and reverts back to death threats the moment she says no.

Like?? What is the point of this lmao.

Chapter 22: Callum

Their next destination is a place called Maeshowe, and they’re planning to infiltrate a tour bus and then ditch it to go explore on their own. They get on a boat, hug while Callum thinks about how much he cares about Klara and how he must protect her like he couldn’t protect Thomas, same old crap. Then Callum spots the bean-nighe on the shore! DUN DUUUN!

Nothing much happens, as you can see. Here’s a nitpick to compensate:

The bean-nighe — the omen of death—turned to him. Time seemed to slow. Her handsome face twisted and melted into a horrifying mask punctured by black, unblinking eyes and a mouth that opened to reveal a yawning maw of darkness.

The use of “handsome” here bothers me. Not because “only men are described as handsome!” which I think is stupid, and in fact more women and fem-presenting people should be called handsome, both for gay reasons and for Jane Austen reasons. My beef here is that it’s such an anachronistic term used by a character that has otherwise sounded perfectly modern throughout the book. Like, Sasha has made Callum’s inner monologue/voice sound nearly indistinguishable from Klara’s (he’s not as Quirky TM), so this archaic use of the word jumps out and points a finger at how fucked the rest of his language is. Like, it’s more correct, which is why it’s wrong. That’s impressive in a weird way.

Chapter 23: Klara

“Acting like everything is normal” had always been her superpower[...]

WHY IS THAT IN QUOTES?! AUGH!

They get on the bus with a bunch of tourists and the tour guide provides exposition. At least it makes more sense in-universe, even if the way it’s written makes the fascinating historical site sound really boring.

I won’t recap it here. Go research Maeshowe on your own, it’ll be far more interesting.

Either way, the most important bit is that something something winter solstice, which triggers this tasty morsel of bad:

Meán Geimhridh. The winter solstice. The shortest day. The longest night. Her scientist brain churned, considering it in astronomical terms: during the solstice, the earth’s northern hemisphere was the farthest from the sun it could be. Farthest from the light. The cold expanse of space unfurled in her mind. She imagined its darkness spilling onto earth in the lengthening shadows of winter.

HER SCIENTIST BRAIN, you guys. Klara is SO SMART, I PROMISE. Look at her thinking scientifically about the SCIENCE that SWEDISH MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS learn.

God, this is sad.

Anyway, they sneak off without issue, and Klara once again begins to feel the Mysterious Plot Pull as they enter Maeshowe. They get inside and discover some runes and other totes mystical stuff, and Klara steps into a special square of runes and then gets blasted with some magic and travels through time, seeing modern construction people but also Vikings. It’s honestly difficult to tell what the fuck is going on, so y’all help me out here.

She was moving through time—or time was moving around her while she stood perfectly still, the eye in the center of a storm.

People came and went, bearded and robed. A group of men set light to a fire beside them, axes and round shields in their hands. Vikings, Klara thought, carving runes upon the wall. Then they, too, were gone.

Rubble fell, crashing to the ground around them, revealing the sky above. Men emptied the fallen earth and stone.

Clouds tore across the heavens, the sun and moon cresting across an alternating gray-blue and starry-black skyscape. Then the view was blocked, the modern men closing the ceiling once more. Light, electric and artificial, flared into existence and expired. The scene turned back again, the sun and moon spinning like a top.

And then, just like that—the scene around her came to a standstill again.

So is she going back? Forward? Or is it just sort of a slurry.

Either way, the slurry stops and DUN DUN! Thomas is there!

A bright-eyed boy dressed in a plain cloak stood in front of her, clutching a torch. His freckles spread like wildfire across his cheeks and a roguish grin.

And a roguish grin ... what?

God, this is so bad. Literally who edited this?

Anyway, they touch and it’s all mystical and power surges through her and then Klara is like “oh naur” for some reason and is yanked back into the present.

Chapter 24: Klara

Klara wakes up and Callum is gone, but she brought Thomas’s torch with her through time. Cool. She stumbles outside and Callum is fighting a shadow beast again, and he’s losing. He loses so bad he gets mortally wounded, apparently. Klara turns back time a few moments to give him an advantage and heal his wounds. It works, but Callum ... *longsuffering sigh* drops the sword and it spins in the air and lands blade-first in the ground next to Klara and she doesn’t have time to think so she grabs it and leaps into the air and stabs the monster in the mouth.

To give Sasha some credit, Klara falls over immediately and the monster isn’t dead, but then she, of course, remembers Cernunnos’s epic words in italics.

An odd sense of calm overcame her as she stared into the beast’s snake eyes. What surprised her most of all was the soothing voice that suddenly filled her head. Cernunnos’s voice.

It comes from the breach between worlds.

[...]

She held the entire being within her mind, imagining down to the smallest atom where it had come from.

And where it must return.

The powers of a god, she thought. I’ll have to be good enough.

She blasts the monster back to whence it came. Very girlbossy of her.

Chapter 25: Callum

We time skip to them in another inn. No recap of what happened or what Callum saw while Klara was doing her thing, because who needs that?

Klara patches up a wound on Callum’s leg that seems supernaturally infected. They make out for a bit, then the innkeeper tells them to get a room and they do. Callum thinks about how he has to protect Klara and how he’s willing to die for her, because that’s his only personality trait.

Klara explains that she saw Thomas, but that something was off about him, which is news to me but ok. Callum doesn’t take it well, and even though Klara doesn’t specify how Thomas felt off, Callum assures her that Thomas is totes trustworthy. I have no idea what is happening, but the bad dialogue is really revealing Sasha’s heavy hand.

“Maybe,” Klara said. “He definitely seemed...confident.” She shifted from foot to foot. “But, Callum, something about him was wrong.”

“Wrong?” Her words sparked in him. Too many people in Rosemere had judged Thomas and Callum—for being poor, for being rough.

But Klara only grew more confident, and stepped out of his embrace. “There was something off, Callum. Some kind of energy—”

“Thomas is the most trustworthy man I ken,” Callum insisted. He heard the tinge of desperation in his voice.

“To you, of course. You were best friends.” Klara paused. She then softened her gaze. “I know what I felt, Callum. I just don’t know what it means yet.”

“Well what does it matter now? He’s dead.”

Callum is impressively stupid for a guy who not only thinks and speaks like a modern man, but also was the first one to insist and believe time travel was real and had happened to him. Like ... yes, Thomas is dead now, at this moment. But he’s alive if you travel back in time to before he died. Keep up, kiltboy.

Sadly, no dramatic fight breaks out. Instead, we get another “breakthrough.”

“His words, they must mean something...significant. Could it have been an offer of help?”

“Well I’ve been thinking about that, too. It reminded me of something Arianrhod said.” Klara stared at her hands. “You’re right, my powers are growing stronger. They must be the key.”

“What do ye mean?” he asked.

“You’re not going to like it,” she answered.

Klara stretched her arms out in front of her, a kind of wonder and fear dancing in her eyes and the way she flexed her fingers. “I think the Otherworld may be the only place Llaw couldn’t reach me. And with my powers...”

Callum waited for her to finish. When she didn’t, his mind filled in her meaning. “Ye think that with your powers, ye could escape into the Otherworld?”

I ... I mean ... Doy? Isn’t that what you were doing in the first place? Not the escaping to the Otherworld part, but the “my powers are the key” part? Were you not traveling to all these mystic center to help Klara unlock her powers?

Also, what indication do they have that Llaw wouldn’t be able to reach her there? If he’s collected the powers of all the other Pillars, wouldn’t he be able to enter the Otherworld just as easily as one Pillar? Is she getting this from Thomas saying that the Otherworld is the key? But Llaw has also summoned supernatural creatures from a “breach” between this world and the Otherworld and can control them to some degree, so he clearly has some sort of influence over it?

Am I insane? Am I going fucking insane? This book is gaslighting me, I swear.

Klara also says that she can send Callum back to his time before she leaves for the Otherworld, but Callum is all “Nooo I wanna stay here with you and die for you potentially because that’s my only character trait!”

They make out some more, but are cockblocked by Klara’s dad who knocks on the door.

We’re almost at the end, y’all. We’re getting there. One or two more posts and then we’re free!

[atopearth]

Norn9: Var Commons Part 10 - Epilogue and Final Review

Epilogue

It's actually really funny how Masamune keeps trying to interfere with Sorata trying to ask the others about this pale girl that keeps appearing. But the funniest thing is when he tells Koharu about it and she's so chill, she's like maybe they're here to see you and they would be your first ghost friend, I love Koharu so much😂😂 Legit died when Sorata thought he was a hiyoko because they can see Aion as well😂 Hmmm, is she/Aine really Aion? A facet of Aion? Aion's real name? It was cute how happy she was when Sorata called her Aine though. Since we never get to see Sorata much in the other routes besides Natsuhiko's for a bit, it's nice to know that in the background all this time, he was chatting away with Aine. Ohh, Sorata misread her name haha, that's cute, it's like they had their own little secret name. Anyway, I was more on the side of Sorata being a reincarnation of some sort with the skills of his past considering how good he seems to be at understanding science, but the same DNA as the guy who created Aion? So the scientists on the island are hoping that he'll be able to fix Aion? I guess that's why Sorata usually stays behind on the island in most routes. Aion has a predecessor called Aine??🫨😅

It's really sad that because Aine was an android with a heart, she was targeted, and it was because of that, the Sorata from the past told her to never speak again so they would think she's a normal android, but she didn't like that, she wanted to express her feelings towards this Sorata and tell him she loved him, but she would never defy his orders, so she never got to tell him her feelings, even though they most likely shared the same feelings. So Aion is basically the remodified into a weapon Aine, hoping that she'll be able to meet Sorata again even if he's in another form. It's kinda sad that Aine felt connected with Shiro Yuiga in their desires for wanting to reunite with the one they loved most. Even though he's "evil", it's interesting to know that Shiro Yuiga actually kept passing on/making new versions of himself just so he could see the one he loves again, but then in the other routes, wouldn't that mean he never really "died" and just passed on to another body/version? Anyway, I'm not sure what gives Shiro Yuiga the idea that if he introduces weapons into the world again, it'll be just like when his loved one was alive and that should make her appear or something because that sounds kinda silly? I mean Sorata appeared without any of that? Oh okay, Shiro Yuiga's brain apparently has limits so even if he can transfer to another robot, he won't be "himself" anymore, he'll just be a real robot with no emotions etc, losing the original purpose for doing all this in the first place. It was sad to find out that Aine stopped functioning not long after both her and Sorata told each other that even if they're not who they were back then, they still wanted to be together forever. I was really happy to see Koharu and Sorata get to have a proper talk and farewell. I always missed their interactions. I always wondered why Koharu was chosen to be the pyrokinetic but I think I agree with Sorata, Aine's answer in choosing Koharu is exactly what Koharu's choice is - to not use her powers for one side only because both sides have people important to them and their lives of equal value. Maybe it's considered cowardly but I like it that Koharu doesn't want her powers to be used to kill people. It was expected that Sorata would stay on the island to work hard on trying to get Aine to be able to sing again.

Final review

Overall, I really enjoyed Norn9. It seems to have a lot of mixed reviews but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved having three heroines because it never felt boring and it was nice to see how the different heroines interacted with the different guys. I did kinda wish that we could get some mixed pairings though, such as Mikoto and Kakeru, Koharu and Akito, Nanami and Itsuki. I feel like Mikoto with Kakeru would have been fun because they both hate but respect each other, Koharu and Akito would have fun cooking together in the kitchen, and I actually really liked how Itsuki was a big brother to Nanami and gave her lots of advice and care so I kinda dig that hahaha. Anyway, back to the routes themselves, it's impossible to like everything so of course I didn't vibe with some of them but I'd say with their flaws, I still enjoyed most of the routes. There were times where the "love" appeared out of nowhere and then there were many times when the plot was basically non-existent and dead to the game, but it was still really fun to see all the characters' interactions with each other. I still wish everyone's back story got so thoroughly explored like it was for Akito's but maybe we can hope for more in Last Era? Otherwise, the highlight of this game is definitely the characters and the romance. All the different personalities and matches were just so fun to watch, I just couldn't stop reading haha! It's been a while since I haven't been able to put a game down. Anyway, for me the poster/cover boys are my favourites for each heroine but I also can't help but love trash men like Ron😂 Anyway, in order of my favourite route to least favourite, it would be Natsuhiko, Akito, Kakeru, Sakuya, Ron, Masamune, Itsuki and then Heishi-Senri. To be fair though, in terms of the characters themselves, I really love everyone though! They're all so funny and unique, like I super enjoyed Heishi's energy and how annoying Ron was but their routes were lacking something. I would still rate the game 8/10 and recommend it though because it really was enjoyable if you can ignore that the plot is put to the side lol, so don't have any expectations for the interesting plot and I think you'll at least find a few routes you enjoy, and of course, no one can resist Natsuhiko!