#That she wouldn't be able to fully attribute to any one thing and it would drive her nuts so she'd just put it out of mind

[sysig]

I think that if GLaDOS had a human body for whatever reason (insert your own justification here) that she wouldn’t actually look like Caroline

I think she’d look like Cave

[idyllic-affections]

little colt.

summary. xianyun cannot help but take in another child. perhaps, in the future, they may become a disciple of hers.

trigger & content warnings. none applicable.

tropes, pairings, fic length, & other notes. fluff, found family-ish. xianyun & child!reader. 2k words. they/them pronouns for reader. prev | next.

author's thoughts. bird mom propaganda RAHHHHHH btw if you find a typo no you didn't i'm sleepy but i wanted to post this........

       Cloud Retainer has taken on many disciples in her time, and she has loved each and every one as if they were her own.

       It was, therefore, quite unlikely that she woukd cease to take on disciples anytime within the forseeable future. Her love was extensive, far beyond what most mortals would be able to comprehend, and her capacity for intimate and tight bonds was even moreso. She has taken on many disciples over the years, and she has loved them all like her own children.

       Perhaps it could be attributed to her adeptal instincts; she can recall many a time during which her fellow adepti, upon bonding closely with another being, became exceedingly protective of them. It was only natural—adepti lived for so long and were often affected by their more nonhuman instincts. It wouldn't be improbable to imagine that the need to bond with other beings would grow strong over so many years.

       ...Then again, it could always simply be attributed to her. In her mind, there was little need for any such justification like 'instincts.' She could scoff at the idea—she was no mere animal. 'Instincts' could not begin to fully explain the depth of her love and care; it was surely infinitely more complicated than the mere maternal urges that a simple crane, a wild animal, might have. She was infinitely more intricate and convoluted than an uncomplicated bird.

       (That, however, did not change the fact that she did tend to have bird-like habits. Preening, nesting in her own way... She preferred not to bring attention to that fact, however.)

       Regardless of the reason, the truth was that she was lonely, even if she vehemently denied it whenever someone brought up the idea. Mt. Aocang was... quiet, dreadfully so without the constant presence of Ganyu or Shenhe or any of her other disciples. She enjoyed the silence to an extent, but she could only entertain herself for so long without another being to share her knowledge with. Liyue Harbor was far more lively. Loud and chaotic at times, perhaps, but far less lonely than the empty nest that her adeptal abode had become.

       Maybe that was why she was so immediately invested in the little one who had accidentially bumped into her and was now apologizing profusely.

       "I'm— I'm so sorry, miss! I wasn't watching where I was going! I really didn't mean it, I..."

       'What a swift little thing,' she couldn't help but muse. She'd hardly even spotted them rushing her way before they tumbled into her legs. Their body weight wasn't even enough to make her stumble—if anything, they were the one that ended up getting thrown off balance. It was cute how small they were compared to her, really; it reminded her of Shenhe when she was a child, or even her current disciple, Shuyu.

       Ah... but she shouldn't be so quick to think fondly of them. No, surely this little one had parents of their own—a life of their own—to return to. She did not even know their name. No. Bonds should not be so quick to form.

       With elegant, poised grace akin to a gentle breeze rustling a tree's leaves, she knelt down, the motion putting an end to their sheepish yet hurried apologies. Glossy, innocent eyes stared up at her—even kneeling, Xianyun was still a bit taller than they were—with an amount of awe that would've made her feathers puff out in pride had she been in her illuminated beast form. She was not one to grow embarrassed at admiration, after all.

       "Where are your caregivers, child?"

       "Oh. Um." Their brows furrowed slightly. "...I don't know, actually."

       "Ah, are you lost? Come, then. One— Ahem. I shall reuinte you with them. I am certain they must be quite frantic in your absence."

       Before she could rise and offer her clawed hand to them, they urgently shook their head.

       "Oh, no! It's not like that, miss. Even if it was, I wouldn't want to trouble you at all! I would find my way back!" they insisted politely, waving their hands in front of their body as if to dismiss her concerns (though, Xianyun hardly thought it would be "troubling"; she was a bit surprised that they felt it so, or perhaps they were really just trying to be polite). It was then that she noticed the little wooden chick held carefully in one of their hands, but she did not yet have the opportunity to inquire about it. "I've been on my own for as long as I can remember, that's all."

       Oh?

       Oh.

       "Hm. Is that so?"

       "Uh-huh."

       "In that case, child, I—"

       A man rounding the corner and immediately prevented her from finishing her sentence. He was very clearly furious, approaching the child with such fervent determination that Xianyun could not help but wonder what nature of a troublemaker she must have encountered. Though... she really did not see them that way, which only made her infintely more curious about rhe situation at hand.

       Their expression seemed to fall.

       "You, kid!" he shouted, stopping just a foot or two away from them. "You can't just go around stealing whatever you please! Who raised you?!"

       "No, I..." They could not meet his gaze. "I was gonna bring back more mora to make up for it when I could, I just—!"

       "Don't give me excuses. I want the toy you've stolen returned, you understand? Hand it over!"

       Xianyun sighed, adjusting her glasses.

       "Enough," she said, rising to her feet. "How much mora will suffice? For reparations, of course."

       "Rep— reparations?" the man stuttered, then sighed. "No, no... look. You're the mom? Just teach your kid not to go around stealing. The toy's not worth much, but a kid who starts stealing this young will take far more important things in the future. So, teach 'em not to do it."

       Hiding behind Xianyun's legs, they couldn't help but stare upwards in wonderment. His attitude flipped completely when faced with a woman so much taller than he was, and with an air surrounding her that demanded such an impossible amount of respect. They honestly could not blame him for such an attitude change; they would too, they thought, if they were faced with someone like her.

       "Very well. You have my apologies on their behalf." She turned on her heel, holding out her hand to them. "Let us go, little colt."

       Colt?

       Bewildered but nonetheless beyond awestruck with this strange yet kind woman, they nodded, wordlessly placing their freehand in hers. Her sharp, hooked nails dug slightly into their skin; somehow, though, they couldn't be bothered to care. It didn't hurt much. On the contrary, it was oddly comforting.

       The walk was silent for a few moments, but then, Xianyun's voice demanded their attention:

       "You should pay quite the mind to your behavior in the future. Theivery is a significant offense in a land such as this—a land that regards contracts with the highest of respect. Had I withheld my intervention, it may very well have ended far worse."

       "I really didn't mean to," they whispered, little tears building up in the corners of their eyes. Even though she was someone they had only just met a few moments ago, disappointing her seemed... unbearable. Angering her would have been more tolerable. "Um... steal, that is. I didn't mean it. I just thought it looked really cool. I left whatever mora I had on me to pay for it, and I was going to try and get more so I could pay him the right amount... I swear I wasn't going to just run away with it..."

       She hummed. "Regardless of your intent, I will see to it that you do not do such a thing again."

       "Hu— huh? You will?"

       She scoffed. "Of course. Surely you did not expect me to abandon you on the side of the street again? As an elder, it is only right that I watch over little ones such as yourself, and little ones should not be cruelly left to fend for themselves."

       The tears on their lashes had dried by now. They even offered her a smile, giggling as they said, "Elder? I don't think you're old."

       "Oh? And what, pray tell, has led you to such a bold conclusion, hm?"

       "Well... you! You look very young, miss! I think elder women are very pretty too, but you look... young pretty? Um... what's the word again..?"

       "Youthful, perhaps?"

       "Yeah! Youthful!"

       As they rambled on animatedly, clutching the wooden bird to their chest, Xianyun's lips quirked upwards into an amused smile.

       It, of course, went unnoticed by them.

                       — flower of the universe !! 🌸

       In the few days that had passed since Xianyun welcomed little [Name]—they had bashfully introduced themselves to her in the middle of their rambling once they recalled that she didn't even know their name, and she returned the sentiment with greater confidence—into her home, she had put together a few simple toys for them to amuse themselves with.

       She was an inventor at heart. Even though these designs were not entirely her own, she made them hers with unique additions and more efficient features... of course, all while doing her best to keep the toys simple. They were for a child, after all. Mechanics, Xianyun's mechanics, were complicated enough for adults to understand as it was—a child would surely have even less of a capacity to grasp something too complicated, and her efforts would therefore have been wasted.

       ...But oh, how terribly wrong she now understood herself to be.

       Quietly and motionlessly, as to avoid drawing their attention, she watched with the growing warmth of fondness and excitement in her chest as the young one she took in meticulously pried open the toys she handcrafted.

       They were humming to themselves, gingerly laying out the parts in an organized manner so that nothing got lost or mixed. She was beyond impressed with the careful thought they had blatantly put into keeping track of everything; Xianyun was certain that most children would lose a small part or two, but as she surveyed their layout, she noted that every single piece—big or small, hard to overlook or easy to lose—was accounted for.

       Childish forgetfulness wasn't an inherently bad thing. In fact, it was quite amusing and endearing to those such as herself who had lived for so many millennia.

       However, she was infinitely more endeared by their sheer mindfulness.

       Their sharp gasp snapped her from her internal musings.

       "Oh— Miss... Miss Xianyun! I'm sorry, I—" They stumbled over their words, and they froze up somewhat. It was as if they wanted to hide what they had done but ultimately decided against it; she had clearly already spotted them, and they did not want to risk mixing up all the parts. "Miss Xianyun, I'm so sorry, I— I wasn't trying to destroy them, I just—"

       "—wanted to understand their internal workings, yes?"

       Their eyes went wide with that same wonderment they had displayed towards her a few days prior. "How... how did you know?"

       She almost laughed at their cluelessness. "You have taken them apart with the care and delicacy quite unusual for one of your age. This, one surmises, is only because you sought to sate your curiosity regarding these simple mechanisms and their internal functions."

       The grace with which she carried herself never failed to leave them in astonished silence. Xianyun hummed, sweeping them up into her arms as if they weighed no more than a feather (her utter, raw strength was another astounding feat in their young mind; she was so unimaginably admirable in a multiplicity of ways to them). Then, with steady caution, she kneeled to the floor and situated them comfortably in her lap.

       "Allow one to introduce you, little colt, to the basics of mechanics."

       Xianyun, they concluded, was an odd but genuinely kind woman.

       Though her manner of speech was sometimes strange and formal, and her grace seemed otherworldly in its nature, and her strength was assuredly not a feat that just anyone could achieve...

       She was tender. She was kind. She cared.

       Perhaps the world was not always so kind, but despite that knowledge, they had never felt safer than where they were now.

please consder reblogging with a kind tag or comment, it helps me out quite a lot! mama xianyun series taglist: @zeldadou, @starryshinyskies, @soleillunne, @lillonvia, @nervocat, @dragon-type-nuggetz, @starlit-dianthus. contact me non-anonymously to be added.

[breached-containment-script]

Some arguments KA shippers make are valid and true. But that they don't necessarily do anything nearly enough to be valid anti-zutara arguments!

Stuff like, that quick burns probably wouldn't scar (Katara's hands) or that if she had gotten scarred, that Toph's feet should have gotten scarred too. This is valid.

That it's true that when Aang's negative aspects get developed to their final extreme forms in theories and fanfiction, it can feel weird and offputting to people who naturally gravitate towards staying approximately around canon vibes; that some descriptions of behaviour sound too strong to some people which results in pushing them away from zutara as a negative reaction to associated criticisms of Aang. But that also personal headcanon developments (even those with strong foundation in canon) are individual preferences and people are able to choose which headcanons to like, without using disliked ones to paint an entire show interpretation negative.

It'a true that most of Aang's bad behaviour in the show can be attributed to him being just a kid and not being self-aware enough yet. He's not intentionally malicious in most cases. His negative reaction towards Water Tribe culture and food is a depiction of a kid not knowing how to respect something that makes him uncomfortable, even if this kinda clashes with him having already had friends from all over the world. Unfortunatey, canon progression doesn't depict him learning as many lessons as he should nor does it show him outgrowing negative traits even though it should have. THIS is the source of headcanons which appreciate intentionally exploring main character developing in a negative light. His negative traits constantly repeat and have a common stay in his canon character. This is a fact, especially with his claim that he'd be in the Avatar state had it not been blocked, out of frustration that actors on a stage implied Katara doesn't feel the same way about him. This is a very bad thing, we've seen both him and others being afraid of it, it causing massive destruction and Katara having the burden of calming him down. How would she theoretically calm him down in the case he did enter the Avatar state because of this reason? Assuming she didn't have romantic feelings for him (which should always exist as a valid option for any character, to test if they have a healthy interaction) - she could pray he'd accept it and calm down on his own, or be under extreme pressure to lie that she likes him back. Even if she did like him back, having to admit under the threat of a destructive force being unleashed, IS NOT GOOD. Especially as the characters never addressed this later.

Yes, Zuko did a lot of bad things but not only are they overblown by KA-fans and Zuko-antis, they constantly purposefully ignore that he got punished repeatedly, suffered in canon for his actions and kept doing very risky and selfless things to make up for his past, they also forget that time flows FORWARD and that WHEN events happened on a timeline MATTERS. It's not an argument that Zuko burned Suki's village in book 1 when he helped rescue her and others by risking his life in book 3 and she forgave him. One thing is collateral damage in a cartoon filled with cartoon violence, and another when for example Long Feng kills Jet. Viewers should be able to discern the tone difference, because shows (or any creative work) especially with multiple writers, aren't homogenous, and aren't tonally or message-wise completely unified. Don't start your deduction argument from the idea that a show is fully consistent and is absolutely sending a singular message, start an inductive analysis from ideas about what a show's context is, what its goals are, what the tone feels like in each section, did it accomplish what it was aiming for, etc. Likewise Zuko could have been written even better in some areas and with more context!

However him hunting down heroes, knocking out Katara etc. isn't a gotcha argument some people think it is, because Katara knocked him out as well, twice even so badly he didn't wake up for quite some time; and he was struck, rejected, ignored, mocked and criticised by both Iroh, the gaang and Katara especially after he sided with Azula under Ba Sing Se, but then they forgave him as he actively worked to atone, and Katara herself forgave him for what he did. She then risked her life to save him back. The writing is very logical and consistent in this.

[carionto]

Extreme Stress Testing

Human vessels are almost uniformly diverse. This is normal among civilians in most civilizations, but what baffles us is the fact their military craft of all sizes are equally uniquely designed and decorated. Now, we've seen how they love to tinker and attribute personality to their ships, but that's still a process that takes time and effort.

Take their fighter craft for example. Not even a week passes after one is printed and officially tested that it gains a whole new paint job and numerous panels and devices are replaced. After a bit of backroom negotiation in a bar where we politely kept to the only drinks that wouldn't kill us outright - tea. But still not too hot, it's miraculous how Humans can ingest near boiling water and be perfectly fine after a short while.

Anyway, we were allowed to "ghost" how a fairly young Quick Response combat group - Sparrow Swarm 12 - initiated three new fighter pilots and their freshly minted craft.

The Cruiser-Carrier hybrid ship, Hilda's Halberd, ferried the squad plus guests to the outer edges of Sol's Oort Cloud. At these distances, even the Sun is just a slightly larger dot in the pitch black darkness of space. However, wherever civilization goes, light follows, and with a flick of a switch of its powerful flood lights, Hilda's Halberd became the brightest spot for a million kilometers.

What it illuminated, however, was quite a terrifying sight to behold. A graveyard of ships and debris, deliberately left alone by the OCC by request of the military. We became quite worried as we got closer to the field, but thankfully the cruiser-carrier stopped a good few thousand clicks away. Then the fighter squadron launched straight for it.

Thanks to the flood lights we could clearly see the entire spectacle. We wish we couldn't.

The new pilots were bumped, literally physical ship-to-ship contact by the veterans all the way as they approached the, what the captain called - a "race track". It was horrifying all the way there. Sparks and sparkling micro-debris from the now not-so-pristine ships flew off with every bump and crash. And Human ships are bulky, even the smallest ones have much greater mass than normal, so impacts like those would easily destroy most non-Human ships of equivalent scale.

With numerous bruises and "cosmetic" damage!? (we would immediately send any ship in similar condition to be fully repaired and refitted) they arrived at the actual initiation grounds. Then the carnage begins. They're told to make it from one end of the field to the other WHILE EVERYONE ELSE IS SHOOTING AT THEM WITH LIVE AMMO!!!

It was beyond terrifying. Even as far as we were from the actual carnage, when Human ships discharge their weapons with intent - Space. Quivers.

It was over in a minute.

All three, now, by all measures anywhere else in the Galaxy, hardened combat veterans, made it. Just. How they were able to maneuver so swiftly and change trajectories without the Human within dying from all the g-forces is beyond us, and how the attackers were able to keep up with their chaotic movements, quite a learning experience for how decisively they would beat us as we are now should we ever become foes.

After everyone was back on Hilda's Halberd, the squad cheered and had a small feast, while the rest of the crew went about as normal and began to make way back to the core of Sol. The next day each of the tattered ships had their pilot and an engineer working on it, talking about all the technical aspects and things like how it "felt when the left wing was shot off and I bumped into an asteroid", and other nightmarish things.

One of the pilots simply smiled as she looked at her ship and then the engineer and said "Dragon horns".

[vickyvicarious]

"Do not stir," he said, "but I fear that with growing strength she may wake; and that would make danger, oh, so much danger. But I shall precaution take. I shall give hypodermic injection of morphia."

This line has interesting implications. Van Helsing really doesn't want Lucy to wake up while she is so blood-deprived. And previously, that might have been attributable merely to not wanting to scare her, but this line really doesn't seem like that's it.

This "danger" he speaks of... it seems like one of two things to me. Either he fears that a) Lucy waking up in this state could lead to her becoming a vampire, or that b) her waking and knowing she's getting transfusions could lead to the vampire preying upon her finding out and maybe taking new action.

If it's the former, then that never exactly pans out (in that she's never awake during any transfusions). But there could be some interesting implications with the way Van Helsing later says she's different from usual vampires because of the way she was attacked in her sleepwalking:

She was bitten by the vampire when she was in a trance, sleep-walking—oh, you start; you do not know that, friend John, but you shall know it all later—and in trance could he best come to take more blood. In trance she died, and in trance she is Un-Dead, too. So it is that she differ from all other.

That said, I'm not sure how much I believe this, given that we see other vampire victims also have weirdness around sleep/memory of being bitten, and the vampire ladies in the castle appear to default towards trying to hypnotize Jonathan. It's possible sleepwalking on top of that adds another dimension, but... I'm not sure if I buy it fully or not. Still, it's interesting.

I imagine the second option is more likely, though. And it connects neatly with Van Helsing's other efforts to restrict information at this point, too. He doesn't know anything about this vampire! At this point he might not even be 100% convinced that's what it is, or what lore he should be working with! He knows he can trust Jack, but it's possible anyone else could be either the source of the danger, or an informant. Not necessarily a willing informant, either - Lucy would be a perfect case of someone who wouldn't want to share any information, but who might not be able to help doing so.

Maybe this is why he's so insistent that no other maids or nurses help with this. Or at least part of why, in conjunction with not wanting people to undo his work if they disagree with it/remove her from his care. It's very frustrating as readers, because we know they aren't responsible and also presumably aren't as sleep-deprived as the doctors are already... but Van Helsing doesn't know what their deal is. Maybe one of them is a vampire. Maybe they could be hypnotized too. Just before Quincey's big hero moment, Van Helsing says:

"What are we to do now? Where are we to turn for help? We must have another transfusion of blood, and that soon, or that poor girl's life won't be worth an hour's purchase. You are exhausted already; I am exhausted too. I fear to trust those women, even if they would have courage to submit. What are we to do for some one who will open his veins for her?"

I always kind of chalked this up to a combo of his benevolent sexism and not knowing what drugs might be in their system (and those definitely still can work) but maybe some of it is also down to not knowing if they are 'infected' too. Admittedly, this theory doesn't fully hold water in that he never tries to keep them away from her during the day, and even just before that above quote, leaves a maid alone with Lucy. But perhaps he feels the danger of being bitten is only viable at night.

[crossdressingdeath]

Lord Enver Gortash: Ah - a familiar face, and a fondly-remembered one indeed. How have you been, Karlach? Karlach: Very, very hot. Lord Enver Gortash: You're agitated. I'd keep an eye on that. My Steel Watch are sensitive to anything they perceive as a threat. Karlach: Very clever, fabricating people to do your fighting for you. But they won't be able to protect you forever, Gortash. Lord Enver Gortash: I never meant to harm you, dear, merely to help you realise your vast potential. Karlach: You sent me to the Hells. You let Zariel take my heart. As though any of it was yours to give away. Lord Enver Gortash: The greater good, Karlach. Something I wouldn't expect you to understand. Karlach: You feel no regret, do you. All right. How about fear then? Lord Enver Gortash: Oh, you do quite misunderstand. I've already made a deal with your companion. We need each other. Karlach: Do we now? Kyvir: Easy, Karlach; we won't make it far against the Steel Watch. Lord Enver Gortash: Listen to reason, for once in your life. I'm sorry you feel wronged about how things ended between us, but that was ten years ago. We must look to the future. Karlach: You have no future. Karlach: There will come a time, sooner than you think, when death comes knocking at your door. You'll swing that door open, and you'll cower before what you see, and you'll beg, 'Please, Karlach. Spare me.' Karlach: I can't wait.

The wild part of this is, I think Gortash actually means it when he says he never meant to harm Karlach. It was an immensely fucked up thing to do to her and I don't believe for a second he misses that as much as he's pretending to, but I fully agree with the post I've seen around suggesting that on at least some level Gortash was playing out his own trauma with Karlach in his place with the expectation that she'd come out the other side stronger like he did (also immensely fucked up like he did, but hey! Who's counting?) and actually did think he was doing her a favour. I mean, he definitely knew that it was a horrific thing to do to someone who trusted him for personal gain and he's an awful, awful person for it, but it is an interesting point of characterization to consider. Also I vaguely remember seeing someone talking about a dialogue path (maybe only if you're playing Karlach?) where Gortash says essentially "You knew what I was, why did you not see this coming?" and I didn't get that here but it's very fun. He's got a bit of a point, but also I can say without a second of doubt that if Karlach knew he was the type to sell her to a devil who'd replace her heart with an engine she would not have worked for him. He was absolutely hiding his worst attributes from her; she didn't see it coming because she didn't know what he was. God he's such a rat bastard of a man.

It also says so much about Karlach that even with the man she hates more than anyone else right here in front of her and even with him deliberately antagonizing her (you can't tell me that "Something I wouldn't expect you to understand" and "I've already made a deal with your companion, we need each other" and "Listen to reason, for once in your life" aren't Gortash deliberately antagonizing her like the rat bastard he is) she'll still stand down if you ask her to. She trusts the player character so much that she'll tolerate an alliance with her literal worst enemy out of faith that they have a plan! And with remarkably good grace under the circumstances. He absolutely deserves to die at her hands and deserves even more to beg for her to spare him and be left entirely at her mercy the same way she was left at his.

[distort-opia]

I know you ship batjokes, but what do you think about jarley?

Well, I can't say I ship it, but I do find it interesting-- much like I find Bruce's other relationships interesting. It'd be tough not to, since in Punchline's own words:

-- Batman (2016) #93

Harley is the person to get closest to Joker emotionally other than Batman. And with the big disclaimer that this is all my personal opinion which I got specifically asked about, I'll put a slightly longer discussion of the subject under the cut.

To be honest, I dislike how Jarley has been reduced solely to the label of "abusive relationship", with Harley's own darker traits being swept under the rug or fully attributed to Joker's influence. Doctor Harleen Quinzell had her own demons and psychopathic tendencies, before ever meeting Joker; and it was a sense of deep loneliness that drove her to him, and which he exploited. At the end of the day, that does seem like what it amounted to, especially in the beginning... Harley feeling horribly alone, and latching onto Joker to fill that void, with Joker manipulating it and taking control. However, Joker would not have been able to take advantage of any kind of attachment if Harleen's own darkness didn't relate to Joker's own somehow.

And well, thing is... Joker, in his own way, cared about Harley. Put bluntly, he wouldn't have bothered to keep her around otherwise. It's a Black Label comic, but my mind always goes to this phrasing when thinking of Jarley:

-- Birds of Prey (2020)

"Crawled in each other's void." And Joker's void was Batman-shaped, just like she says. At this point it's been canonized again and again that Joker is in love with Batman, with Harley herself being the one to confirm it more than once... and it is fascinating how Batjokes and Jarley interact, most tragically when it comes to Harley. Because she was jealous of Batman and the hold he had over Joker's attention. Part of what kept her next to Joker, trying harder and harder to please him (like in Mad Love) was the hope that eventually, she could become as special to him as he was to her. She saw how human Joker could be about Batman, and wanted to nurture and help him turn it into something more, but in the end it probably became the most hurtful thing-- Joker being incapable of caring about anyone else but Batman, no matter how hard she tried or the things she endured.

...Anyway, Anon, to summarize, I do think Jarley is interesting :)) That being said, it's also annoying how it's being used to turn Joker into a one-dimensional cartoonishly evil abuser, ever since Harley's redemption arc began. Better writers could find ways to turn Harley into an anti-hero without bulldozing over previous characterization for her or Joker, but alas.

[blueteller]

Heya. I have a question. If Cale dies, and get reincarnated, will he retain his aps? I feel like he wont because the aps are not fully integrated to his soul and the aps are left behind when a person dies no? But we dont have a precedent happening or a mention if a person reborn with an ancient power will be reborn with his ancient pwer because... what do u think?

You posed quite the difficult question, I admit! It's such a complex situation, because Cale is an unusual person for so many reasons... Let's try to approach this topic from 4 different angles, how about that?

The first angle is, "Would a person who originally developed a power of nature (which will then after generations become known as an Ancient Power) reincarnate with their Ancient Power, unlike a person who inherited the power further down the line?"

The second angle is, "Does a person who absorbed the Ancient Power fully have different chances of keeping them after reincarnation, when compared someone who didn't absorb it fully?"

The third angle is, "Does a transmigrator have higher chances of reincarnating with their Ancient Power, when compared to a non-transmigrator?"

And the fourth angle is, "Would a person with 5 natural attributes and special bonds with his Ancient Powers reincarnate with all of them intact?"

Each of those questions covers a completely different case.

(Spoiler warning, if you haven't read the whole novel yet!)

For the first angle, we actually got not just one, but TWO examples for the contrary. People who die leave their powers behind, unless they become a divine being. It doesn't matter if they were the "original owner" or someone down the line.

Such is the case for Jour Thames, who (presumably) inherited her power from her family: she died and reincarnated in Korea without Annual Rings of Life.

We see the same thing with Cage, who is strongly implied (practically confirmed) to be the reincarnation of the original Glutton Priestess in the God of Death's journal. Cage apparently went through a whole cycle of dimensions before reincarnating again in the same one after 10,000 years. And she doesn't have the power of the Indestructible Shield anymore. It's not even similar to her current powers.

People like Nelan Barrow/Choi Jung Gun, or Cheapskate and Super Rock, who became divine beings after their deaths... they left their Ancient Powers behind, yes. But kept some sort of power at the time time. I assume that power evolved into a more powerful version of what they could do as mortals.

The second angle, about absorbing Ancient Powers affecting whether a person would reincarnate with them or not... honestly, there doesn't seem to be any proof either way in canon. But considering that being the "original" or the "heir" to an Ancient Power doesn't seem to make a difference, I would assume that it probably makes no difference. Whether Cale fully absorbed his Ancient Powers or not, it wouldn't change his chances of reincarnating with them.

The angle with transmigration is definitely interesting... mainly because reincarnation and transmigration are NOT the same thing.

Cale transmigrated, for example, and he kept his original Earth abilities. However, the same could not be said for Sui Khan/Lee Soo Hyuk, who was able to pass on his Embrace ability onto Cale before recieving his "reward" and being fully reincarnated with his memories. Sui Khan doesn't seem to have either Embrace nor his mysterious slashing ability anymore (which, according to Cale, used to belong to Choi Jung Gun for some reason...), despite having memories of his previous life. I might be wrong about it, of course, but if that was the case then he probably wouldn't even need to pass Embrace to Cale in the first place. The God of Death could have sent Cale in memory-less Sui Khan direction and have HIM use the power on the Sealed God directly. The fact that it was necessary to pass it to Cale at all makes it seem as if the power was lost completely, if it wasn't passed onto someone.

The last angle applies to Cale specifically, as someone who has a truly unusual set of powers and abilities all at once. I'm pretty sure no one else like Cale exists or HAVE ever existed before.

Putting aside my personal prediction of Cale becoming a divine entity by the end of Part 2... What would happen, in theory, if Cale died and didn't become a god? Would he reincarnate with his Ancient Powers due to his extremely unusual circumstances?

Short answer? Probably he wouldn't. But I can't completely dismiss the theory, either. Cale broke so many rules of the world, what's one more? If someone could reincarnate with his Ancient Powers, despite all evidence pointing to the fact that it shouldn't be possible unless he was a reincarnator like the White Star... Honestly, if anyone COULD do that, it'd 100% be Cale. Especially considering that he has Record, a very mysterious power which has decent chances of preserving memories in spite of all odds. Possibly even death. So...

To answer your question of "Would a person with an Ancient Power be reborn with that power?", I say: probably not. It's unlikely.

Impossible, though? I wouldn't say that.

[lee-hakhyun]

598

this chapter broke me

words that can't be written (4)

the skill resonating with his feelings is interesting. and the snow garden couldn't evaluate what he wrote" and the name of the scene.. words that can't be written the rlaehrwks didn't give any feedback, either. but what they did do,

is confirm his story.

the colour returns to the world, and this story begins to unfold

these people are extras, because their story is the lack of a story. note the human and monster blood mixing, for later there's no sentence for an extra... :(

and as lhh notes, you can't write sentences for an extra. because once you do, they wouldn't be an extra any more. and if there's a main character, the rest will be extras.

don't like that self-deprecation. this is not your fault, hakhyun and that line about making a footprint... he starts walking into towards the ground rats.

you could have maybe TOLD YOUR FRIENDS you were going to do something if jung heewon wasn't knocked out she would be so pissed anyway, his plan

remember the 'ever-changing stealth suit' that rep kdj was using to disguise himself as kdj? with the condition to be hit 10 times to be able to use it with the 'thoughts of almost anything'? it seems he hit that condition while being tortured. yeahh. i got really mad at this point because i think that's part of the reason he was taunting rep kdj to attack more. you do not want to see my drafts LMFAO there's also something i want to bring up about the 'thoughts of almost anything'. it can speak(though it's just babbling right now), and it seems to have a will of its own? that's interesting. though hakhyun has been using incite to just order it around. don't know how i feel about that. maybe it will grow someday?

he incites the thought into transforming into the stealth suit, and what does he use it for?

he turns into a ground rat. yeah. he runs to the center of the platform, but starts to hear something

his attribute activates again, and he's able to understand the ground rats. i am really interested in what his attribute/s are, but like kdj he can't see his attribute window. sigh.

going on on a quick tangent here;

his attributes seem to activate in a few different scenarios. interpreting languages, things related to writing, and when his head is racing his attribute activates and he calms.

excluding the language attribute, the scenes where his attribute activates (not in order) him mentioning cheon inho brings up another question, which attributes are his and which are inho's? he has both inho's [incite] and his own [☐☐] skill, so he probably has both his own and inho's attributes. checking orv, kim dokja never saw cheon inho's character window, so we can't go off that either. i'd be interested to hear what you guys think of this

anyway, back to the side story

these ground rats, the monsters, they're also incarnations. and a lot more of them have died.

in the center of this all, he uses incite to get the monster's attention. when that doesn't fully work, he pushes his limits and incites them again.

ooh. the way the ground rats talked reminded me of them too, the nameless ones.

he transforms the thought into a poison bomb that he picked up after the ohdokhyup fight. this also lifts his ground rat disguise

being able to hear the ground rat voices makes this so much worse lee hakhyun uses incite, and begins to talk to the monsters

monsters are just incarnations, too even after saying he'd have to kill them all, he still tries to convince them to stop fighting. tries to make a story where the extras survive.

but the star stream is cruel.

the dokkaebis didn't want it, the constellations didn't want it. so the star stream interferes, and lee hakhyun's incitement breaks. the ground rats rush at hakhyun, and he has no choice but to detonate the bomb. the monsters die, constellations cheer at the carnage, hakhyun pours the horn powder into his mouth to stave off the poison and walks away.

we already knew, this story already has its protagonist. the side story is following him. he pours horn powder into the baby ground rat's mouth, and carries on with it in his arms

he's made a footprint. lee hakhyun's first story is germinating. it's not complete, but it has started.

those three constellations schemer obviously has that thing with hsy, the unrevealed constellation i'm already paying special attention to, but that second constellation is new. 'lotus flower under the moonlight' there is one character in orv that has connections to both lotus and moonlight. and she saved hakhyun earlier. could it be..?

[corgibardballads]

I absolutely love our dragon dad. I loved him the second we met him. But the lore between us and Midgardsormr is also interesting because it has changed context over time but also is so vague that I think we can interpret things the way we want until the writers fully figure out what they want to do. But I really hope he isn't gone gone. Every time we get any dragon lore I always expect to see a tiny Midgardsormr pop up again and sit on our shoulder just like old times. Replaying our first meeting is interesting because I feel like a lot of it has either changed or perhaps been given knew meaning over time.

I appreciate that dragons are almost eternal, super powerful, and depicted as flawed as the Greek gods because lets be honest... this is the worst take possible lol. Even Ysayle shares this take which is so interesting. Punishing the son for the sins of the father is 0/10. "This man just killed someone! He also has a one year old son. Clearly he is equally guilty and must also be killed!"

This is kinda interesting these days because it's kinda both? On the one hand we are the shard of Azem and we learned in Shb and EW that Hydaelyn's blessing only affects protecting your aether but has nothing to do with our inherent strength and unique abilities. So presumably we can attribute our uniqueness to being a shard rather than Hydaelyn's blessing. On top of that we learn in the EW quest where we inhabit another soldier's body that our ability to find things in the right place at the right time is also inherent to us (it seemed to imply we are unique as a whole rather than just our soul specifically). On the other hand we were technically chosen by Hydaelyn because meeting Venat in Elpis let her know which incarnation of us to specifically look out for and guide us. Anyway, just a cool continuation of how the lore grows.

So I kinda wonder about this... Venat says her magic simply guards one's aether from being altered or corrupted. Midgardsormr wouldn't have that power when he entered into his covenant with us and blocked our connection to Hydaelyn. So the primals we fought should have been a threat to us, but they weren't. I surmise that we may inherently have aether protection independent of Venat's magic. Considering what we know about Azem's role, or I guess how little we know, it seems logical to me that with everything they would be exposed too it's likely all Azems develop some sort of magic to protect their aether. And from that I would infer that we inherit it as a trait rather than being reliant on Hydaelyn's magic and that our connection to Hydaelyn is mostly about guidance to prevent Ascian plots. Granted this is speculation, but I feel it seems logical given what very little information we have.

As a dragoon this was written for me specifically to enjoy. But really I always felt that our LB3 was just momentarily fusing our aether with Midgardsormrs to abso-fucking-lutely wreck someone.

I was wondering about this bit too. If he fedon Hydaelyn's essence to regenerate and she is gone. It's possible that Midgardsormr's only connection to this world now if our covenant with him. It's possible that when we die, if he isn't able to regenerate enough to at least have his tiny form, he could just straight up die with us. Now they could change this later, but I think it's kinda cool if it stays that way.

Haha yeah. Yep crazy. Hey can we keep a little bird perch in here? Like no reason homie, just in case a lil guy wants to have a lil sit.

[angeldcgs]

just as she predicted, all the hoops she'd had to jump through just to get them here had already been made more than worth it. even if lou ended up clamming up and throwing a fit, putting an end to the night before she could guide them all to a happy ending, at least she'd gotten to watch them go at it like two animals in heat, grinding against one another with a vigor that couldn't all be attributed to her ultimatum. lux knew a performance when she saw one, and what she'd just witnessed was nothing short of raw passion. if she'd have walked out of the room rather than followed lou over to where they'd become a tangle of limbs on the living room floor, they likely wouldn't have even noticed for at least several minutes, becoming so consumed with each other that her existence would be all but forgotten. lou would only be able to go so long without realizing her absence, though, as no distraction was great enough to replace his constant need for her presence. she was pleased to see griffyn had taken the liberty to pull him along behind them once she glanced back on their way to the bedroom, lips curled up in approval. their path was taken at a leisurely pace, with lux hoping the anticipation would only amplify their eventual enjoyment, and once they finally got to her room, she released griffyn and instead went to sit on the end of the bed. for a moment she just sat there, palms resting on the bed behind her so she could lean back slightly, eyeing them both with a look of amusement brightening her features. they looked like two eager puppy dogs waiting on bated breath for their owner's command, and she delighted in leaving them in suspense. "he's still got all his clothes on," she nodded towards griffyn, still fully clothed except for his undone jeans. "that doesn't seem fair..."

lou might've been having some complicated feelings about the whole thing, but griffyn was having a blast. he held no real stakes in the matter— sure, if things went badly, it could negatively impact their friendship, but he figured it was more likely that lou would try and pretend the whole thing had never happened if that were the case. it was a common response from him to sweep things under the rug if they were too difficult to confront head on, and griffyn had come to accept that by now. he was just there for a night of fun, and that's exactly what he was getting. there was no worry of having to unpack what any of it meant later on, he could simply go back to his life as normal with the memories to keep him satisfied and none of the potential baggage weighing him down. lou's unease was palpable, and griffyn made sure to keep holding his hand the whole way to the bedroom, giving it a reassuring squeeze as he looked back to check on him. he only released it once they'd entered the room, both standing before lux and awaiting her judgment, and he instead gave her his full attention like he was sure she demanded. it was only when she spoke that he glanced over to lou to gauge how he was feeling, subtly putting the offer on the table by reaching out for one of lou's hands and guiding it to the waistband of his pants to try and encourage him to pull them down.

with the amount of guilt and shame that lou felt around his attraction to men, there wasn't a world in which he would have ever had the confidence to do something about it without lux's support. he was happy to live in denial, to ignore that part of him and act as though pretending it wasn't real would somehow free him of the pain that came with believing there was something wrong with him. it didn't matter how he felt about griffyn, if lux wasn't there to guide him and essentially force him into coming face to face with his attraction then it never would've happened. he would've lived the rest of his life daydreaming about that one kiss and refused to ever acknowledge why he was pining after something he claimed to be completely disinterested in. having her there beside him helped ease his anxiety, he could fall back on his attraction for her as being the reason he'd gotten so hard, his desire to do as she said the catalyst for everything he found himself capable of doing to griffyn. the downside of having them both there meant that the attention couldn't always be on him and after being spoiled by lux's constant regard, having to share her with someone else was scarier than lou was prepared for. a low, pained whine rose from the back of his throat as her small hand wrapped around his fattening cock, the temptation to buck up into her touch lingered but he knew better than to ask for more than she offered. he could handle it, but what he couldn't handle was the sight before him when he managed to shakily sit up a little and witness lux with her hand down griffyn's pants. jealous didn't seem to cover it and was too simple of a word, he wasn't upset, they looked beautiful together and it was amusing to see griffyn's smugness wiped from his face momentarily while lux groped at him but he felt left out. he couldn't balance the need to be involved and also to witness, to sit on the sidelines and watch them together while also being an active participant. without lux's guidance, he was lost. there was nothing to do but sit there with a pout till he was told what was next. his heart dropped at the side of both of them rising to their feet and yet he felt frozen, glued to the floor with nothing he could do except stare up at them and question whether or not he was invited to join. it was a stupid thing to worry about, there was no way that lux wouldn't see how he was feeling and not try to use that to her advantage. she wouldn't fuck griffyn if he wasn't there to watch, at least that was what lou believed. she'd picked him, he was her boyfriend, not griffyn. if anything, while it had been him who had been at the centre of back and forth, the night- every night, was about lux. she wanted to see lou accept himself for who he was, not only because it was the right thing to do but because she'd benefit from it. she got to sit there and watch her boyfriend sloppily make out with his childhood best friend and then she got to use his attraction for him to bully him into the corner and make him watch them fuck. if lou wasn't so turned on by mistreatment, then maybe he would've been upset with how calculated the whole night felt. he couldn't though, both because he loved lux too much and she could do no wrong in his eyes. he couldn't even be angry at griffyn because as lux started to leave the room, it was griffyn who reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him up so he wasn't left to crawl behind them. confused didn't even begin to cover how lou felt but he'd put up with whatever was expected of him, he'd do it to please them both and to prove that he was valuable in whatever weird relationship had just come about.

[ghastspidergwen]

some of the weirder hermit things for my (currently unnamed) hermitcraft au

Tango is always warm. You can feel the heat radiating off him. Most of the hermits brush it off as 'guy from the nether, a land of fire and lava, of course he's warm!' but as anyone who has worked with him in close proximity on a build or circuit, it's not just warmth, his heat can burn if you get too close for too long. The reason he tends to build iron farms instead of tree farms because that much wood around someone who can literally make wood burst into flame by being to close to it is not good. Of course the heat is fine, why wouldn't it be? He doesn't mind it, neither do his friends.

Cleo is a zombie. She has all the stereotypical zombie attributes-stiff joints, rotting flesh, hysterical strength, craving for human flesh, and she stinks. She tries her best to cover it up, flower crowns (which also has the added bonus of covering her head, so she doesn't burn in the sunlight), living more distanced from the rest of the hermits, but the longer she stays dead, the worse it gets. Joe says he was used to it after so many years with her, but the stench got worse and worse until she 'reset' her zombie-ness in Demise. It's been better since then, but it's coming back full force, and quicker than it did before. Is it any wonder she chose to settle in a flower forest this season?

Joe has a rare form of synaesthesia. Even though he's one of the human hermits, this alone can warrant him the occasional invite on the non-human's trips, mostly to wrangle Cleo. Cleo, his partner and best friend on the server. A literal zombie, who has lost all sense of touch and taste, who has very little sense of smell, except when it comes to rotten flesh. She longs to feel the grass again, pet any sort of animal, taste a cake, or even mushroom stew. So Joe paints her pictures. He takes the feeling of the green grass and tells a story, weaving words together to create poems, watching Cleo's face light up as she remembers this from when she was alive, or maybe Joe is introducing it to her again.

Grian is extremely farsighted. You would expect that from a bird hybrid, but he is farsighted for even avians. And his sight comes with its own rules. Clouds don't seem to impair his vision the normal way, neither does the fog, but anything closer than five blocks is a blurry mess. He wears glasses for building and hanging around the server, and most hermits forgot he doesn't actually need them, they just make his life easier. Standing on top of his mansion, he could see the whole jungle crew, even to Keralis' city. On top of the Omega Tree, he could see past the shopping district to False's base. Pearl-the only other avian on the server-doesn't seem to be able to see as far, or without obstructions like Grian, nor can any of the other avians the hermits have encountered on their travels. When Grian was confronted about his unnaturally good eyesight, he just mumbled something about watching everyone, then went back to work.

Ren is a werewolf. He has to transform with the full moon, obviously, but he can change into his wolf form at any time. Sometimes, it's easier being a dog, getting to run free, no worries of building, or wars, or shops, or anything else. Sometimes, it's too easy to be a wolf. Sometimes he wants to run free forever. He almost did. He got too lost in a transformation, and couldn't come back fully human. But it's fine, he loves the ears (enhanced hearing), tail (better balance), and other wolfish characteristics he kept. But something has been nagging at his brain. If he gave into his bloodthirsty side, what would happen? 3rd life *cough cough*

Jevin is a slime. It was the best. No fall damage, no suffocation, and he could eat almost anything, the only downside was elytra's didn't work so well, so he used boats to get around, and now horses. But being a slime has been not so fun since that encounter with Evil X. He can now merge with the slime bouncing around the swamp, often forgetting that he still has work to do on his base, his thoughts merging with the slime's. He only snaps out of it when someone splits the slimes apart. He also falls apart more, leaving bits of his slime behind, and repairing himself with slime balls. Leaving the Ship of Theseus in question-how much Jevin can be replaced with slime balls before he is no longer Jevin?

Wels gives off light. All elves do, but his armour blocks most of it. The light isn't bright enough to stop mobs spawning, and he doesn't need it to see in caves, his darkvision covers that. Without the heavy armour to block the light, it's bright enough to set zombies and skeletons alight, making his mob proofing very effective. Most of the Hermits don't even realize that he glows, it wasn't noticeable until Hels showed up. Where Wels gave off light, Hels seems to absorb it. They balanced each other out, darkness and light, yin and yang. Beef noticed after that, but he didn't say anything. Wels had enough on his plate after that. Xisuma also knows. He mentioned it to Wels once, who waved it off, said it was a 'special trait', and not to worry about it. So Xisuma didn't, until he heard whispers about an evil Wels, who was the darkness to all of Wels' light. Ever since Hels came to the server, Wels' light has been dimmed, and he doesn't know why.

Gem loves plants, and they love her back. After all, why wouldn't they? She can help give the plants life, so they repay her, with gifts. A wandering trader pops up with the first dripleaf of the season in Gem's base? Plants must have given it to her. She finds one of the best horses on the server? The plants must have put Moose in her path. If you want your trees to grow quicker, just call her over for some tea, and you'll have a whole forest in less than a day. Sure, the trees will be more intricate than if you waited for them to grow naturally, there will be more ground cover, and you get the feeling that something is lurking in all the plants around your base now, but an overnight forest and a chat with Gem makes it worth it. After all, what kind of malevolent spirit would want to hurt Gem, a spirit of life and growth?

Bdubs is a human, what else would he be? He's just fascinated with time. He would kill for a clock. He carries clocks around everywhere, studying them in his free time, comparing the hands' position to the position of the sun, moon, and stars. When asked why, he says there's something he needs to know about time, and he needs to figure it out. Maybe it has to do with the fact he jumped late into season 6 as some certain hippies time travelled out of it. He's the only hermit to have missed a huge amount of time due to some shenanigans. Even Keralis, who left season 3 and came back at the same time as Bdubs, remembers what he did between. Bdubs was with the NHO one second, and falling through the sky the next. He feels there should be something in between, he can almost reach it, he just needs more time to figure it out.

Pearl is terrified of heights. You wouldn't expect her to be, seeing as she's an avian. But she is and no one knows why, except Grian, and he says it's her story to tell. She hasn't told anyone...and she doesn't plan to. Her wings are mostly there for 'decoration', she doesn't get any real use out of them, only occasionally doing short flights or gliding, but she won't actually fly because it reminds her too much of-nope. She doesn't even want to think about it. Maybe telling someone could help her cope, or maybe it would make it worse. Grian's offered to teach her how to fly again, even just low to the ground, but Pearl's still considering the offer. She's heard horses are the new thing, and there's even a 'No Wings Club' in town. She obviously can't get rid of her wings, but maybe Xisuma can mess with her code, keep her close to the ground.

Doc cannot stand cats. He's a creeper, why should he like cats? But cats can hurt him a lot more than they hurt normal creepers, even normally calm cats like Jellie instantly start trying to attack him if he's anywhere near them. He still likes cats, just not anywhere near him, but cats are drawn to him. Maybe because he is the most powerful creeper on the server and cats feel the most hostile toward that, but no one knows. But cats hate wolves more than they want to hurt him, so that's an added bonus of living with Ren.

Xisuma is...no one knows what Xisuma is. Everyone says he's something different-a shapeshifter, a watcher, an endwalker, literally Doomguy, but no one knows for sure. Just when everyone thought he couldn't get more mysterious, a red Doomguy showed up, calling himself Evil Xisuma. Xisuma says it was nothing more than a glitch, an error in his code resulting in an evil clone, Evil X is gone for good. Then he showed up again. All the other hermits noticed, of course, but something was different from the last time Evil X was seen. He isn't trying to take over the server, he just wants Xisuma to work with him, which X agreed to too willingly. But everything's fine, Xisuma swears it, he's got Evil X under control, or maybe it's the other way round, none of the hermits can tell.

[lilmissbacon]

Frozen 3 concept

I'mma start off with explaining that I'm not the biggest fan of Frozen and I'm definitely not a fan of Elsa's character in general.

But as much as I love the songs and outfits of the second movie, the inconsistencies and how it never explains how sh🤬 works in the world with magic and such are just infuriating. As well as why the spirit that connects them controls ice which is just a variation of water. And how the Frozen franchise just loves to make Elsa more special within every installment.

I am so very tired of it. So I came up with a way that it could all be fixed and make sense if they make a third movie.

Also to note that Anna and Elsa are supposed to be two halves of the fifth spirit but that's VERY briefly touched in movie (quote: well actually a bridge has two sides and mother had two daughters) and Disney themselves take Elsa as the fifth spirit alone so that's stupid.

Why Elsa specifically controls ice

We all know how we're frustrated with the fact that Elsa is supposed to connect all the elements when she only controls ice.

But let's think about it from another prospective. The first movie is based about the seasons. It's a seasonal theme rather than an elemental theme like in its sequel. So why not bring that back?

The enchanted forest cannot be the ONLY place that has mystical spirits. What if there were three other forests with their own fifth spirits and each fifth spirit represented a season?

And each seasonal spirit's magic is a mix of two elements.

Elsa/Winter: Ice = water + air

Spring: Plants = water + earth

Summer: Lava = earth + fire

Fall: Lightning/Storms = air + fire

This still fits in with the fact that the fifth spirit can play back moments in time as well. Each spirit has their own Ahtohallan. Elsa's is made of ice because it's just frozen water and the water is was plays back those moments in time.

Spring's would be like an island made of plants, fungi and marsh. Plants have water running within them so they can take the form of moments in time like Elsa's ice statues.

Summer's would be a volcano with a river flowing through it. Lava and water can mix to create lava rocks. When doing so the memories within that water would be imbedded into the rocks they form and therefore be able to play moments in time as rock statues.

Autumn's would basically be a fog bank with almost ghostly figures making up the memories since fog is a mist, aka: water. Kinda like the scene where Elsa fights the wind spirit and their powers mix for a moment.

Where the others come from

For this, I decided to look around other lands within that side of the world that has legends of spirits. I decided upon:

Spring = Scotland

Summer = Arabia

Fall/Autumn = Japan

I chose for Arabia to be summer, of course , because it's a desert country so it very hot. Japan is autumn because it's culture and everything just always reminded be of the beauty of fall. And Scotland is spring because that's what was left and when I think of Scotland, I think of it's green forests and plants.

Nothing too deep.

Personalities

You think I'd make Summer hotheaded and spring, giddy and bouncy, right?

No, because you see, as I've stated in another post of mine; Why Frozen Doesn't Work In The Big Four, I explained how Elsa's personality reconciles more with summer. The opposite season of her own.

Elsa is kinda quiet, gentle, diplomatic, practical, worries silently and is angelically innocent (even though she doesn't deserve to be).

All are traits relating to summer. So if her personality is opposed to her season, then it'd be the same for the other fifth spirits.

Spring would be a leader, confident, energetic, true to a cause, dependable, easily irritated and stubborn.

Summer would be reserved, well mannered, a good listener, natural poise and pessimistic.

And autumn would be energetic, tender-hearted, optimistic, friendly and overly talkative.

How the spirits work

I fully believe that the spirits have no physical form but rather inhabit certain things. Basically possession but the spirits don't have control over themselves once they choose a vessel and depending on the solidarity of what their element is, determines what kind of vessel they need.

The wind spirit is said to be a playful spirit and would want to make its own choices. Being an element you can't hold, it doesn't really need a host.

Water is liquid and needs something to be it's host but doesn't necessarily need something alive. Therefore it can inhabit a small animal or it inhabits its own element, hence a water horse.

Fire isn't a solid or liquid but it's not necessarily a gas either. Fire always needs to burn on something in order to burn. Therefore it cannot just make out it's own body like water but it doesn't need a large vessel. Hence, a little salamander.

Earth is the most solid of them all so it would need multiple hosts in order to sustain itself. That's why there are multiple earth giants and not just one like the other spirits.

I believe the spirits don't have control over their actions once they choose a host because all the spirits (besides wind) seem to not know what's even going on most of the time. And that would explain why the spirits didn't get rid of the dam themselves, because their vessels didn't know that was the problem.

I also believe that they need a host to begin with because they are actually susceptible to death. As it has been confirmed that Elsa is NOT immortal and there wouldn't have been a legend of a fifth spirit if people hadn't seen one before.

It would also explain how the spirits drove the citizens out of Arendelle without physically being there; they managed to leave their hosts for a time in order to do so. Along with what the light that Elsa was following at Ahtohallan, was. The fifth spirit was able to sustain itself by staying in its birth place and activated the memory of Elsa's mom singing, to bring Elsa there and when Elsa's dress transforms is when the spirit possesses her.

Why does the fifth spirit need to be human? Because humans are more durable. The fifth spirit doesn't control anything completely solid like rock so it doesn't need multiple vessels but it also controls more than a single element, therefore is too much to figure out/control for just any animal.

That's why it chose a very young child to give it's powers to rather than the person who actually did the deed of saving their enemy. It needs to be someone who will have the time to learn and control their powers by adulthood.

(Despite Elsa not truly being worthy and being a horrible sister, she was already chosen at birth and she at least gets the job done. At everyone else's expense but still.)

Plot

How would the seasonal spirits meet? Why would they leave their homes for this? What brings them together?

The four sided snowflake represents the elements connected to the winter spirit. Every season would have their own version of this. But there are also four seasons just like there are four elements.

So, could there be a fifth spirit for the fifth spirits? A fifth spirit to connect the seasons and if so, what is it? What's their power?

I believe, much like the winter spirit called to Elsa, the ultimate fifth spirit will call all the seasonal spirit's to come together at a single location. Anna would come with Elsa as well, of course, and during their journey, they'd all eventually meet each other along the way.

Eventually Anna would start to feel a little neglected when Elsa keeps talking to / about the other people who also have magic. Anna doesn't wish for magic, but she wishes for Elsa to finally see herself and Anna as equals (because Elsa clearly wouldn't after finding others like herself, let's be real). So Anna goes off to have her own sort of "Show Yourself" moment and is the one to find the location they've been looking for which is where she becomes their fifth spirit; the Aurora Borealis.

It was in one of the original scripts for the first movie that Anna was gonna have the power to control the Aurora Borealis, but then the creators decided that took away from Elsa's agency for self isolation due to her powers.

It's true that Anna having been able to accomplish what she did without powers is one of her best attributes but Anna becoming the light spirit is really the only way she's gonna get any appreciation within the fan base or the disney community. Plus Anna's done all the work to begin with so she deserves it.

With the other spirits being seasonal & elemental, it would only make sense for the one to connect them all would be light.

But all the spirits also have an opposite to balance them out:

Fire | Water

Earth | Air

Winter | Summer

Spring | Autumn

So maybe the reason they were all being called there is because Light's opposite is Darkness and it's plotting to take them all out. They are in charge of keeping balance and darkness wants to create chaos. But you also need darkness for balance, so maybe someone else will be with them through the journey and become the vessel for darkness in order to control it. Because, again, spirits have no control once they have a host.

This could be a possible redemption arc for Hans. We could learn about what he's been through and what truly drove him to be the bad guy because from what we know of his brothers, they were really bad. I think he just really lost a nerve due to unintentional (or intentional) abuse and was trying to prove to his family that he was better than they believed. People who suffer from abuse can be irrational like that.

I think it would be a phenomenal thing for him to overcome his inner darkness while also taking control of the literal spirit of darkness.

Metaphorical-wise it's beautiful.

Art/Designs

I edited the other seasons + Anna off of concept art for Elsa's white dress while Hans is kinda my own creation but I still used his concept art for a base. Everything after that are purely original.

Location they are led to ⬇️

Let me know what you all think 👍

[blris96]

I just hope they are moving forward with the chenford relationship even with small steps. I hope they don't brush over any more moments like they did with 4.01!!

Hi lovely anon!

I think they are. If we think about it, Chenford wasn't even considered a slow burn until 3x09. There was no way that anything would happen when Lucy was his rookie. Then, we had the "fake" confession debacle which didn't help things. Yes, I put fake in quotes since I think Lucy is starting to realize she meant what she said. That essentially reset things in my opinion. Everything this season is written from a romantic point of view as opposed to Seasons 1-3.

I mean, even in this past episode we saw the expression on Lucy's face when she was talking to Ashley about Kojo and then Tim. Lucy I think is waking up to the fact that she has romantic feelings for Tim, I just don't think that she's fully realized yet.

Tim on the other hand I think is aware or mostly aware, but he maybe hasn't accepted that he has feelings for Lucy yet. Or, more likely, he's accepted them and is gently prodding Lucy for an answer.

These new LIs should provide forward movement. It's different now than it was during the Rachel and Emmett days. Chenford is no longer TO/Rookie and one has most likely realized their feelings while the other is almost there. Ashley in my opinion is meant to be that final push for Lucy to realize she has feelings for Tim. Maybe she's the final push for Tim to realize that he needs Lucy and no one else. Much like Chris (there's still a chance he isn't her LI, but anyone else wouldn't make sense) may very well be that final push for Tim. There's a good chance that all of this may lead to Chenford realizing that they need each other and won't be able to make it work with anyone else.

In regards to 4x01, there was a lot going on there between Angela's kidnapping, Jackson's death, and the La Fiera of it all. Grief was a primary emotion here since Lucy was grieving that Jackson died. Tim strikes me as the type to not do anything if Lucy might not be in the right state of mind (grief can complicate things) because he is a man of honor and wouldn't want to take advantage of Lucy in that moment. You could tell that they both wanted to go to each other after the hug when the scene flashed back and forth to them looking at the door. But, more likely, Chenford brushed it under the rug and attributed it to grief.

I don't think they'll brush over any more moments like 4x01. I'm willing to attribute the 4x01 moment to a case of circumstances. I think it may be relatively smooth sailing from here. We just need to get past the LIs.

[thecxtalyst]

The top to her drink popped and the challenge issued, Yas made quick work of her first few sips as well, gulping down the liquid with a hum of approval. "I can't even tell you the last time I had one of these." Things were a lot harder to come by when out in the smaller villages that she had been traveling and working around in Rwanda, though there had been little time at all to spend on luxuries like drinks. Already she was feeling the warmth spread in her chest, a fact that she was willing to attribute to the first few sips of alcohol she'd had in a year and not at all to the woman standing in front of her. Part of the impetus to spend the year away had been Sage and the growing closeness between them and Yasemin had hoped that the time away would dull it even just slightly. Five minutes into seeing her again, however, she was very quickly faced with the realization that her hopes had been misplaced.

"Of course she hasn't," Yas nodded back, a teasing smile barely concealed as she tried to hold it back. Sage very well may have been telling the truth and Asher could have been the only reason she'd kept tabs on Yasemin's arrival date, but Yas preferred to assume otherwise. Though she'd been hoping to move on herself in the year away, there wasn't a world in which she wanted to confront the possibility that Sage could have done the same. "It's cute that you listened to her talk about me all the time, though." She couldn't resist pointing it out again, wanting more than anything to see the flush of red in Sage's cheeks.

The teasing smile shifted immediately when a familiar whirlwind of blonde curls came flying into the vicinity. Though the girl was only three and maybe wouldn't have picked up on any vibes, Yas simultaneously didn't want to risk it and also wanted to give the young girl all the attention in the world. As much as her heart had ached from missing Sage, the separation from Maggie had left just as much of an impact on her. Maggie, at least, she'd been able to pop on video calls with from time to time with Asher. "So big! Look at you, Mags," she chirped out, reaching down to offer a hug if she wanted one. A year had been a long time and even with the occasional video call, Yas didn't know where she ranked anymore in the kid's life. For all she knew, she was a total stranger now in Maggie's life.

The question brought another wide smile from Yas, who quickly shifted to pull her bag from her back to her chest with her free hand. There wasn't much in it, her possessions kept light while traveling to make it easy, but the bag had been fully packed with gifts for the Franklin women that she'd picked up over the course of the year. "Only the best kind of gifts, obviously," she assured them both as she pulled out a rather larger gift bag filled with gifts for Maggie. "Bag is a little crumpled from the flight, but, hey. Happy birthday, Mags." Most of what she'd brought back were hand crafted toys, clothes, and a few locally made candies that would all fit in with Maggie's now very big, very mature three years of age.

@peregrinaticn

The thought of the other catching up, either of them (or worse, both) under the influence of alcohol after going the last year without seeing each other seemed like a disaster waiting to happen, but Sage felt like that was a risk she was willing to take — even with the sound of her sister somewhere entertaining a group of kids across the backyard. It was growing more difficult to hear Asher with the sound of flames rushing through her ears, her heart thumping wildly against her chest as she tried to swallow down the fire that was threatening to expose every aching thought she'd had over the last year. Partially to bury the feeling even further and partially because Sage was a Franklin and Franklins could never resist a challenge, she lifted the beer to her lips and took a few large swallows to bring the liquid midway down the bottle. "We'll see about that," She ended up teasing, her lips curving just slightly as her gaze watched Yasemin finally stand, the first words out of her mouth made her want to melt into the ground.

It was so painfully obvious the other had picked up on the fact that Sage was keeping track of, at the very least, the day the woman was supposed to get back into town. It wasn't like she'd kept a tally on the calendar or anything... that would be questionable. She just did her best at being a good sister and part of that was listening to said sister talk about said best friend and when she'd be returning — and what's it to anyone if she maybe checked in with Asher a few times about how the other was doing? That was completely ordinary, right?

"Well, Ash wouldn't shut up about it, so." Deflecting was her only move and even then she felt like she barely made it out of crawling into the ground and letting it swallow her whole. Had she waited a moment, though, the distraction would have come on its own, as the little princess Yas spoke of must have sensed being talked about and rammed her entire now three-year-old big kid body into Sage's legs, causing her to almost fumble the bottle in her hand in the process. The older blonde couldn't help but laugh, her fingers rustling curls that had grown longer and just a little bit straighter since the other woman left a year ago. "Speak of the devil... I mean, little birthday princess," Sage corrected herself with a silly scrunch of her face in Maggie's direction.

The toddler couldn't resist pressing her hands to her hips and pouting at the word little, declaring very quickly to Yasemin that she was big now because she was three years old and not two anymore. "You're right, Mags, only monsters don't show up for big kid princess' birthday parties, right?" Maggie nodded in agreement. "The question is, what kind of gift did the not-monster bring back with her for the princess?"

@thecxtalyst

[shyrose57]

Brothers anon back again. Heads up im going to be busy for the next week about so it may be a bit til I submit my next bit. I'll try to get something in though! Even if its just a bunch of incorrect quotes I have stored up or songs that inspired the story (or if you have questions you haven't been able to ask you can ask those, literally any question is fine).

1: Not particularly, but it does give him an advantage in everything basically. Cause he was taught how to survive in many different areas (like treating wounds and how to survive in a tundra when you have nothing), this teaching is what allowed him to live alone for 4 years, and is what gives him a strong advantage in the Pit because he's almost fully trained in fighting and has many different tactics for multiple scenarios. Ranbob was distraught and was sent into a depressive episode when he discovered that, almost his entire family was dead, and got even more distraught and sent into a state of hysteria when he found out he was the one who killed them. He acted much the same when he found out he killed his friends, Ran's friends, and every single mentor and leader that was there. Knowing full well he may of very well doomed Mizu, if anyone was still left alive of course. 

2: Grievous remained salty for the rest of the day, and showed distaste in Ranbob as well. But the day after Grievous was back to being friends with and gently pranking Ranbob, forgiving him for yesterday's accident.

3: Eh? It depends I'll say. For life threatening situations and stressful situations, yes definitely. He doesnt last long before breaking down and begging Benjamin for help. But if its something like getting everyone to work toghere, giving directions, stopping fights, or even making calls in a very important decision, he doesnt get overwhelmed too easily. Benjamin is basically the co-leader of the group, only really leading when Isaac is unable too. 

5: Yep! Just cause this is a mythical and fake world doesnt mean there can't be some real world attributes. Im trying to keep it mythical but also use real world functions and trying to show the change/mix in times (like how while some of the world is machinery and its slowly gaining popularity, it's still mostly midevil based)

7: If the person is in the arena he gets revenge. Though sadly he can't get it outside cause last time he did that he got banned from fighting for a month. But if he sees one of the people who made fun of Jackie in the arena he makes sure to go hard to them, pushing them to their limit, but not pushing hard enough to make them lose if that makes sense. He makes sure to fight in a way that's draining and causing pain for the person, but not draining enough to make the round end so he can drag it on until the person collapses. 

8: He does! He's kept all of his books from his adventures and sometimes re-reads them to make sure he doesnt forget anything. And sometimes if the others beg, he reads them outloud to the group as a sort of bedtime story. He goes wack, he wacks Jackie when he's being a little shit, he wacks Grievous after a prank, he wacks Genevieve when she brakes a training dummy, he wacks Levi especially hard when he gives Jackie alcohol after he specifically told him not too. He watched the dressmaker, baker, farmer, fletcher, cleric, cartographer, and butcher! He learned all tricks of the trade and learned how to properly make clothes, map maps, how to take care of animals and what certain animals need, how to cook anything basically, how to harvest and preserve food, and how to make arrows and the basic necessities for a bow. 

Ran does not necessarily make them often, he mostly only wrote them down so he wouldn't accidentally brew a potion of poison and drink it thinking it was a healing potion. Its considered no longer necessary to go into the nether, as the only thing really needed is netherwart and building supplies, but the building supplies are very rarely needed and every major city has a netherwart farm. Also cause I wanna add it, no one knows about netherite. Only a few adventures know about it but consider it a hoax, it's only Rans netherite sword that actually proves that it does exist. I actually wasnt planning on it at first but now definitely, I could do a lot of things with them in the SMP grounds. Weeks, it takes weeks for Ran to decide their ready. Because they need to pass whats basically tests about mobs of the nether and their habits, mine plenty of gold, learn about what to and what not to do around Piglins, learn about bastions and fortresses and areas to completely avoid, learn to be able to take multiple mobs on at once, and be able to withstand the heat there. Watson tries to get Ran to lighten up on the requirements but Ran is firmly sticking his ground and Watson ends up giving up and letting Ran do whatever. Though even with all of Rans training their not completely ready for the nether. The fishermen originally refuse to go through, but eventually go through, mostly to make sure Ranbob is safe, and because Cletus wouldn't stop whining about going. 

10: I am very tempted to add angst here because their fighting against Dream after all. But I've made a lot of angst so far so I'll only do it if you want me too. 

12: He does end up stepping in! He goes to Ranbob one night and says how he's noticed he's been stressed and always sad and asks how he can help. Ranbob brushes him off at first but is debating going to him again and asking for help one last time.

13: Yeah he's like a final boss. When you fight as a General your allowed to use your own personal weapons and whatever tricks or tactics you want, along with 3 potions of your choice. While when fighting as a typical gladiator, you have to use the weapons supplied (although unless specifically stated you can use any weapon given at any time), and have to use tatics and tricks specifically allowed in the rules. Though there are 2 more titles! Sergeant and Corporal. Ran and Watson are both Sergeants, they get to use personal weapons and mostly any tactic and tricks they want too. While Grievous is a Corporal and only gets to use his personal weapons. 

14: Yep! The whispers disappeared gradually the futher away they got from Mizu, and even while he was moving away from Mizu Dream was asking, almost begging him at the end, to come back to Mizu. Saying how the futher Ranbob gets the lonier and colder he feels, and how he's sorrh, trying to guilt trip him into coming back to Mizu, or at least coming closer again. 

15: It is!

1: Huh. What kind of things would people learn if they chose other idols, exactly? Also, ouch. Why do I keep asking questions I know will hurt me later on?

2: Gently pranking. I applaud his restraint. Is that how Grievous forgives people? Gently pranking them? Just joking with them in general. Also, who laughed at that little situation?

3: So Isaac’s good with everyday things, not so much high stress situations. Gotcha. Is there a reason Benjamin is able to remain calm where he can’t? Practice, experience, personality trait?

5: Very cool. Can’t wait to see what else you do with that, honestly.

7: Petty. I love it. 

8: Aww, adventure bedtime stories! Also, him wacking people is so funny to me, thank you for that. And Levi gave Jackie alcohol? How did that go down? Did Jackie get drunk, or did Watson manage to keep them from drinking it? Watson sounds like he could probably establish a small village if he so chose, and honestly, good for him.

Dang. Does this mean like, everything from the Smp has been lost? So many of them had netherite armor and stuff, what happened there for people to not even know it’s a thing anymore? What happened in general, for so much of the past to be lost to history? How does their little Nether trip go? Anyone get hurt? Are piglin tribes around to trade with? Do they find anything cool, like a fortress or bastion?

10: It’s your AU, do what you will. I’m going to read it regardless, because for some reason, I enjoy breaking my heart like that(and the AU in general). Just give us some bonus hurt/comfort if you do, please? Just a smidge?

12: One last time? What does that mean, exactly? Should I be concerned?

13: Huh. So how many people know that Jackie’s the General? What kind of status does it give him? And how many people have managed to beat him when he fights all out? Would you say he and Ran are on par? How about him and Watson? And do the Sergeants and Corporals fight before the General, as like, mini bosses?

14:Oh no. Did it ever cause Ranbob to try and go back to him toward the end, or did the Fishermen manage to distract him long enough to get away from the whispers just about completely?

15: Yay!