#although i don't know anything about the character

[oshinohoshi]

Oshi no Ko chapter 166 thoughts - the end of all things

So uh... the only positive thing I can say here besides the beautiful Ai art is that I felt sad reading the page where Miyako was hugging Ruby. Everything else left me completely empty

This chapter is either:

A) A self-aware ending meant to show that life is suffering and the idol industry will suck out your soul if you let it

B) Outsourced to someone who skimmed OnK for 30 seconds on Wikipedia before putting pen to paper

It has to be A, right? You can't tell me that the same author wrote both of these pages without the right being ironic

But I don't think so because big brained Akane is the one clumsily narrating this crappy montage masquerading as a real ending

Aqua died for nothing. His sister is now a soulless cog in the idol machine

Ruby is mimicking Ai's speech - "Lies are an outstanding kind of love... We pile on the lies and no matter how hard things get, we sing and act happy onstage. It's a fun job!" But she forgot the rest of it: "Only, I'd like the 'being happy' part to be real. Nobody notices, but we have hearts and lives of our own. Happiness as a mother. Happiness as an idol. Normally you'd have to pick one, but I want both. Ai Hoshino is a greedy girl"

Ai wasn't only a misunderstood girl who worked hard to please her fans. That was a big part of her story but she also broke the rules to create her own family, her own happiness

Ruby, on the other hand, seems to have no real desires anymore, she's just following a path she believes her mother and Aqua paved for her. Never mind that Aqua only wanted it in the end because she wanted it and Ai just wanted her kids to be happy

You can tell that Akasaka is patting himself on the back for making a cyclical narrative where Ruby becomes Ai 2.0 by being commodified, scrutinized, and idolized like Ai was

But it's such a flimsy parallel when it comes to the theme of lies because lying to hide your grief =/= "lies are love" which was the only way Ai knew how to frame her genuine desire to love

And Ai's "I love you" to her kids was true whereas Ruby has swallowed her own lie that being an idol is fun even when you're just doing it to outrun your pain

What this chapter showed us is that the meaning of Ruby's life is to be Ruby of B Komachi and she was put on Earth to sing pop songs. Because that's what Ai did, right? If I remember correctly, her final words were "I'm so glad I got to be an idol #blessed"

My God was the Dome concert soulless. Miyako and Ichigo crying happy tears is a punch to the gut. Doesn't Miyako know her daughter is still hurting?

The last scene is so fucking depressing

Ruby, are you okay? Blink twice if you still remember your life outside the idol industry!

The last two pages work really well as horror. She has a brilliant smile but you can tell that she's dead inside. She's got more merch on her table than photos. Why doesn't she have a corkboard of family photos? Although I more or less have this Ai plushie and it's pretty cute so I'll give this a pass because it's hilarious

I guess the takeaway here is to live for others and life is painful so just grin and bear it. Oh yeah, and inspire other young women to join an industry where they get to act happy and lose their humanity. Cool

I mean I get that it's supposed to be about moving on with your life even while grieving and that's a good message, sure, but Aka's insistence on using the word "lies" multiple times as if saying it makes it make sense ruins the whole thing

The most insane part is that this chapter is a wholehearted endorsement of the lies sold by the entertainment/idol industry

I haven't even said anything about anyone besides Ruby because what's the point? Aka didn't have time to do justice to any of the characters I grew to love

It's clear something went wrong with the timeline of wrapping up OnK. No artist wants to execute a final chapter like this. I'm convinced the film reel edges are Aka and Mengo's way of telling the reader, "we know this is a shitty clips show so don't @ us on Twitter about it"

But it's so much worse than that. Aka really decided to tear to shreds everything he worked so hard on for 4 years. Damn

This is my favorite manga and I'll always love that it gave me Ai, my most beloved character of all time, but this leaves an extremely bitter aftertaste. It's really hard to believe that the same person who wrote vol 1 wrote this.

OnK has been pretty important to me. Reading weekly, chatting with fans, and reaching dangerous levels of Ai brain rot has actually been a helpful distraction. TBH I've been a little too invested in it but sometimes you need escapism. So it's crazy that I'm kind of glad it's over.

But this is why fanfic, fanart, and your own headcanons exist. In another universe, this manga wrapped up beautifully and I was depressed for weeks because I couldn't look forward to it anymore. In this universe, at least we're all suffering together here at the end of all things.

And at least the little Hoshino family is still adorable. Too bad Ai is dead, Aqua is dead, and Ruby desperately needs grief counseling. But NEVER MIND. Look at Ai's smile and the twins' faces. This was the Oshi no Ko I really loved.

[yanderes-galore]

50.) "If it means both of us must perish, so be it!" With a yandere Kaido who threatens his forced wife reader , that if his time has come he’s dragging her along with him , please if this request makes you uncomfortable you can delete this no worries;)

Sure! I'm sorry if this is short or not entirely accurate... I haven't actually seen his arc yet but I really like his character!

Yandere! Kaido Prompt 50

"If it means both of us must perish, so be it!"

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Female Darling, Obsession, Possessive behavior, Suicidal behavior (Kaido), Murder, Blood, Kidnapping, You want him dead, Heavy drinking, Forced marriage/relationship.

In the time you've known Kaido... you've learned his nature well. You know him and his title... a force to be reckoned with. He's the world's strongest creature, and Emperor of The Sea...

He's a powerful being driven by war... it defines him... the power is like a drug to him...

Yet such a beast feels oddly... leashed to you, a mere human.

You knew Kaido as your captor. To you, that's all he ever was. No matter how many times Kaido would call himself your husband... He was really just your captor.

You were forced to play his wife, living in Onigashima in Wano Country. You don't typically be affectionate to the beast who calls himself your husband. Yet you also know not to fight him when he requests attention from his wife.

You learned of his habits through watching him. It's the only thing that you felt you could bring yourself to do other than seeing Kaido slaughter those around him. You didn't like to think about that.

Kaido adores war and fights, he often spoke about honor on the battlefield to you. As his wife, you quietly listened as he rambled, no doubt drunk on some alcoholic substance. You knew he loved his alcohol just as much as he adored fighting... and you, apparently.

Another thing you noted was Kaido's... wish for death. That was another thing he rambled about endlessly to you. He spoke fondly of war, violence, and the glory that comes from dying in battle.

These conversations were normal between you and Kaido. He's a warmongering emperor who does anything for battle. Him talking about dying was... oddly common and normal when it came to him specifically.

As his wife you also knew of Kaido's attempts on his own life. Due to being a nearly indestructible beast, said attempts never succeed. However, part of you always seems to hope they will.

Mostly so you can be let out of this hell.

Kaido's obsession with death never really concerned you at this point. He's been like this since your capture years ago. You used to be part of a crew...

Now you're meant to be a beast's plaything, it seems.

You've grown used to your prayers not being answered when Kaido comes back to you. Sometimes you just wish someone strong enough will do the deed already. That way you both get what you want...

Kaido gets his glory and you get your freedom.

Until then, you're forced to sit on him while he drowns himself in his alcohol. You can only listen to his talks about idolizing death and dream of it. Not for you...

Just him.

Although, as time went on, his ramblings changed... and it scared you.

Kaido starts rambling about you. At first it's all strange compliments and pet names. He calls you his pretty little wife... his little mouse and toy. He talks about loving and keeping you forever, laughing as he holds you while you stay silent.

Then he brings up dying again... This time together.

He fantasizes about it despite your sudden tense expression. He gleefully rambles about glory, but this time with you by his side. He tells you that you're his, that he can't leave you all alone...

He tells you that if... when you two die together...

It will complete you both.

You were used to him keeping his death fantasy to himself. But now he seemed too... connected with you to let you go. He tells you that you two will only ever truly be perfect when you die together.

He brings it up more and more and it only makes you more concerned. After all... this is a sudden switch. You really don't have an escape now... do you?

You often think of Kaido's words now... His dark fantasies and delusional ramblings...

You only ever seem to think of them more often once he calls war on those Straw Hat pirates.

"It will be a glorious fight!" Kaido calls to you in your home, an excited grin on his face. You've rarely seen him grin.

"I haven't had a strong opponent in a long time, my love..." Kaido growls, eyes staring down at your smaller form. "I want you there for it."

You freeze when Kaido picks you up like a doll, his grin haunting.

"I want you to witness our greatness! I want you to be there encouraging me! You are my wife, mine forever... You will witness glory, my dearest..."

You then feel Kaido squeeze you a bit, making you feel nauseous as you realize what all of this means...

"I plan to experience glory, my love... I need to feel complete with you." Kaido admits, a large finger running down your back.

There's a momentary silence as Kaido stares down at you, seemingly contemplating something. You can't seem to find the air to breathe when he looks down at you. This is it... isn't it?

"If it means both of us must perish, so be it!" Kaido suddenly roars in laughter, holding you against his chest as he begins to leave your home.

You're shaking but Kaido only seems to find it amusing. He keeps you close, making his way to his newest battlefield. This felt like your Judgement Day...

Today, you die.

"Do not be so fearful..." Kaido suddenly scoffs, eyes looking down at you.

"You should be looking forward to this, wife... Today, we experience greatness! We experience glory and completion..."

Kaido then pulls you up to his face, a sinister grin on his face.

"I want you by my side when I die..." Kaido tightens his grip, glaring as he notices your nervous behavior. "You won't run, you will obey your husband. Today... You and I will be complete..."

You then feel him apply pressure to your midsection, a warning and order that forces you into desperate compliance.

Kaido makes one more roaring laughter as he continues to carry you...

"Today... We die together... Now and forever, you are mine and mine alone."

[some-stars]

is there anything in particular people like to see in sickfic? it's not a trope i read often (i have nothing against it but i just don't usually find it specifically interesting unless the circumstances are different in some way, like for instance a character who hasn't been sick in almost 200 years), but im writing this prompt fill and i want to keep it short and about 75% fluffy, 25% big feelings. although knowing me it will probably end up 66/33.

and the other thing is that i haven't been sick enough to need anyone's help or care since i was like...10 years old. even when i got covid it only really sucked worse than a normal cold for a day, and i could still shower and feed myself and stuff. so i have absolutely no memories to draw on and require suggestions. the sickness level is gonna be "does not require a hospital at present but about as bad as it can get before hitting that point." anyway gonna put this in the poolverine tag since that's who it's for but anyone who enjoys the genre please feel free to chime in!

[galadhir]

Oh this is nice!!! I know that early 2000s LOTR fandom was extremely hard to deal with so more power to you for this one.

Honestly, I found the fandom a great place to be in those days. There weren't a lot of people writing Celeborn or even the Sindar in general, (other than Haldir and Legolas.) But the section of the fandom that I hung out in, I found delightful. Lots of really good writers, and a playful atmosphere in which we were all being inspired by each others' work and writing our own, and chatting about it with each other. I was lucky, maybe, but I have only pleasant memories.

I do remember what I thought was a thriving Elrond/Celebrian fandom in those days (although anything not-Legolas and not-Feanorian was obviously much smaller than those powerhouses.) I think it's great. Celebrian deserves a bit of development. If we want strong female characters in the Tolkien fandom we should maybe write more of them than just Galadriel, and surely Galadriel's daughter must have been special in her own right.

i think it's interesting that even in that one Celeborn is a Teler, and therefore always associated with the folk that got damaged by the Kinslaying

It *is* interesting :) I think Galadriel nails her colours to the mast as regards her support for the Sons of Feanor with that decision. And would have stood to potentially alienate herself from her whole people if not for Thingol embracing the Finarfinions and (cautiously) being okay with the people of Fingolfin. It's hard to go against your whole family for love - which is an interesting aspect of their story I don't see explored enough.

(Admittedly I haven't been in the fandom for 20 years, so it may have been done to death by now, but... somehow I doubt it.)

Also I like the version in which Celeborn is a Sindar, which also makes the marriage a mixed marriage in terms where Galadriel married a dark elf. There's a lot to be said about elvish racism in the way the Amanyar treat the elves of Middle-earth, and how that makes things tricky not only for Galadriel with her relatives but also for Celeborn with his.

I think that's sad that people ignore this and say that Celeborn never understood the real Galadriel (opinion that came from the show for some reason) or that he's just an useless betacuck with no personality because that's the only way a woman would have indipendence in her marriage, amirite? Because else a Real Man™️ would rather tame her, right ?

Ugh. This is still going on? Of course it is. Because we are more sexist than Tolkien, and we can't imagine a m/f marriage without subordination of one of the parties.

For some reason it seems to be impossible for people to understand that you can have a marriage where both people have their say - and are thus functionally equal - where one of them has more power than the other.

And yet that's easy - the one with power just refuses to exert it over the other person. They respect their spouse's autonomy because they are a good person.

Also it's possible their spouse has qualities other than power that make it only sensible to consider their opinion.

because they are your beloved and you want them to be happy

because they may have more knowledge of specific things than you and you trust their judgment

because they may have character traits you don't have and you need - ie caution, or wisdom. (See where Galadriel calls her husband 'Celeborn the Wise'. She obviously thinks he generally has good takes on stuff.)

etc

I can't believe I'm still having to argue for the equality and independence of spouses in this day and age.

The less said about Peter Jackson the better. To be fair, I loved the first film, but it was him having the elves of Lorien come to Helm's Deep that got me into fandom in the first place. I was like 'no. That's not how that happened. Do you think they didn't have stuff to do at home?' And then I wrote Battle of the Golden Wood to try to produce something that was a bit closer to canon.

If I wasn't so old and tired I would be tempted to write the story of the Fall of Eregion and the Forging of the Rings for the same reason. But omg I am so tired.

Objectively the funniest argument i've seen for the reason why Celeborn isn't in the show is that he's so boring that not even the showrunners know what to do with him and that he would be an useless baggage for Galadriel's story…

Well, they should do their job and think of something. I could do it. I could do it in a heartbeat. It's easy. How dare these people think that Galadriel's husband is going to be boring? What a travesty!

For what you say of the lore… you're right but i think that the Unfinished Tales rights are off so they cannot use them.

Oh yes, I keep forgetting about the copyright stuff, and their insane decision to write a story they don't have the rights to use the canon sources for.

They should have done something they *did* have the rights for, instead of just making up something that almost has to be wrong in order to be permitted at all. I'm sure there are an infinite number of stories that could be told around the events of LotR and The Hobbit.

What about that Haradhrim soldier that Sam wondered about, for example? I would genuinely love to see more about Far Harad and learn what lies Sauron told them to make them trek across Mordor on their war elephants to attack a city they'd probably never heard of.

You could add a female MC, a couple of blue wizards and some ex-Numenorian Corsairs and I'm sure you could mix up something fascinating that no one in Tolkien fandom could complain about at all.

(We still would complain, but it would be fun complaining and not whatever cannibalistic thing this is.)

Simon Tolkien should at least suck it up and if he was ok with Amazon's fic, to open the possibility for fans to publish LOTR retellings.

LOL! That would be great. I'm ready :)

Hoo, boy. I am definitely going to unfollow the Celeborn tag again, since it's full of Haladriel shippers arguing that Celeborn stans are harassing them.

I'm not getting into whether that's true. I have no interest in Rings of Power, and as far as I am concerned, Halbrand does not exist in Tolkien's world. I can't be somewhere where people mix Amazon's fanfiction with actual lore.

Also ship wars are not for me. I was a massive Celeborn defender during the release of the movies, and I wrote several novels worth of fanfic then. I think I'm spent.

Still, as a Celeborn fan I thought the Celeborn tag would be a great place to go to find stuff about Celeborn. How could I have been so foolish!

My poor lad! Not even his own tag is about him. Which is exactly what I should have expected, now I come to think about it.

[iridescentoracle]

yes it's 1:47am on a friday and i am thinking about girl genius instead of going to bed

i cannot stop thinking about the theoretical possibility of a twin reveal happening in skifander. like i know we just had that light tease on monday of a maybe-reveal but i'll believe it when i see it and also i think a skifander reveal actually has an even higher chaos potential. i have like five different half-formed reveal scenarios floating around in my head right now and at least two of them involve someone actively trying to murder gil but i think my favorite at this exact moment is the idea of zeetha introducing everyone to her mom & company, with gil somewhere in the middle. zantabraxus spends the rest of the introductions being Very Normal And Polite To The Visitors and absolutely not doing anything to let on to anyone around her that she has any particular interest in gil.

at the earliest opportunity that won't draw attention she asks zeetha to bring gil (SUBTLY) to zanta's chambers/whatever so the three of them can have a nice private talk. gil's response is "oh so she does want me dead then" because he has in fact been getting some extremely weird and very intense vibes off her this whole time and he's known for ages his dad was obviously wrong about zeetha wanting him dead but he generally didn't get ideas like that out of nowhere so uhhhh Weird Intense Vibes zeetha's mom is pretending aren't there = she's the one klaus thought might intend to murder gil for some reason??

zeetha naturally laughs that off and drags him to meet zanta properly. the vibes remain Weird and Intense for about fifteen seconds as she just kind of stares at him silently for a minute before abruptly hugging him and saying something about how much she's missed him and how he's grown up so well and etc etc etc

gil, very confused, trying not to reflexively judo-flip a queen: zeetha, fully delighted by just how right she was continuing to Not Tell Him was absolutely the funniest option: [after a minute] zanta (realizing something is Up here and letting go of gil): …zeetha zanta: you did tell your brother what he was walking into and how skifander feels about twins before you brought him home, right? zeetha, cheerfully: nope! gil: her WHAT—

[sysig]

Bucket Bucket Bucket ♥ (Patreon)

I literally gasped, my original Bucket <3 <3 It was all worth it

[front-facing-pokemon]

[not-poignant]

hear me out 👀 loki x mobius

idk, i’ve been rereading the guardians and other fae tales work… on top of the new season of loki-! they just seem like a dynamic you’d thrive with

Hi anon!

So, Loki x Mobius has been around since the show started sdlfkjsa and you might not know this, but I've actually been a hardcore Thorki shipper for over 10 years. Definitely since the first Thor movie came out. *checks how long ago that was and cries a little* Okay, twelve years. In my 1000+ AO3 bookmarks, the Loki/Thor pairing makes up the majority pairing with over 200+ bookmarks.

Anyway, Lokius has been shipped since the Loki show came out, but after like 12 years of being a Thorki shipper (with brief dalliances into some Steve/Loki and Tony/Loki) I mostly just enjoy Loki being friends with Mobius. Like I see the merits of the ship for sure, and am very glad people are enjoying it, but I just...personally prefer Thorki as my ship. I even put up some of a Thorki fanfic of my own and it's the only fic I've removed from thespectaclesofthor (because I knew I wouldn't finish it).

I have been idly thinking of looking at fanfiction offerings for Lokius again but I didn't like a single fic I looked at in season 1 which made me think I was either pretty cool on the pairing overall, or that what was being written just wasn't for me. But I also just...don't ship them. I can't imagine wanting to write a fic for them where I'd ship them. They're not a dynamic I thrive with.

I remember when people thought Steve/Bucky would be a dynamic I thrive with and I actually...don't ship them, and don't even like the ship at all.

With Lokius, it's not that I don't like the ship, I just don't care that much about it. I'm enjoying the show, I love the characters, I'm really glad Loki's experiencing some genuine found family vibes in the canon, and I feel nothing about wanting to make his experiences in that sexual at all. If I ever wrote Loki + Mobius it really would just be a friendfic.

Something might change on that front, for sure, but it's been a few years now and I still just mostly go back to Thorki fics when I want to read Loki stuff again.

I'm sorry anon, people trying to predict the ships I'll go for never goes that well (Mobius is not at all the kind of character I normally want to write in general), but I am very happy for the folks who are enjoying the ship and getting bits and pieces of gif/fic/fanart material from the show. :) And I'm glad we all get to enjoy their acting and the show together overall.

[avirael]

Rain of Fire

As Rael looked up to the sky they strongly hoped that they hadn’t made a grave mistake. The red moon above had grown closer so fast and whatever the Garleans plan was, it was going to happen soon.

The first time Rael had noticed that something was wrong with Dalamud, they had been at the Thavnairian coast near the village of Yedlihmad. Suddenly the wind had freshened up and carried ominous whispers with it. Rael had looked up to the clear night sky filled with glistening stars and observed the twin moons. They tilted their head and wondered if the lesser moon shone redder than usual.

The next morning Rael had decided to return to Radz-at-Han as fast as possible because the feeling that something was wrong hadn’t left them the whole night and had followed them into their sleep with visions of fire-red Dalamud closer than seemed possible by it’s very nature.

The trip back to the city took longer than Rael had hoped and by the time they arrived the smaller moon had undeniably grown bigger or rather closer than it had been a few days ago. Immediately the Viera tried to gather as many information as possible and asked around for news they might have missed while they were out in the wilderness.

After another few days a terrible rumour reached Rael in hushed voices. It was said that the Garlean empire somehow found a way to use their Magitek technology to manipulate Dalamud and now planned to use it as a weapon of mass destruction by making it crash into Aldenard like a giant meteor. It sounded almost to crazy to believe but the way it made the Viera‘s skin crawl let them suspect that there at least was some truth to it.

Rael wondered what they should do next. Knowing things and drawing the right conclusions wasn’t the same thing, a lesson they had learned rather quickly after first being trained to harness their powers. What would happen if the Garleans succeeded with their mad plan? How far would the destruction of such an impact reach? Possibly not as far as Thavnair or Dalmasca, because that would mean that it would hit Garlemald too, and Rael doubted that they were crazy enough to destroy their own territory. But even if the destruction would be limited to Aldenard it would still have catastrophic consequences not only for the people there but also for the aetherial balance of the whole world.

Rael didn’t doubt for a second that they needed to do something about this but the question was how? The Thavnairians seemed reluctant to do anything about the situation. After all they were not only a comparably small nation but also had a non-interference treaty with the Garlean Empire.

But what was Rael supposed to do on their own? Where should they go? For days they tried to find the right answer or at least a hint at it, listening to the voices of the wind, the sound of the waves and rustling of the leaves but to their frustration their gift rarely showed itself when they needed it the most.

Think, think!, they told themself over and over again and went through as many scenarios as they could imagine. Going to Garlemald seemed senseless. Not only would it be far too dangerous but Rael was only one person. There was no way they could sabotage the Empire‘s plans all on their own. But who would have an interest in helping them other than the designated victims of the Garleans plan? Would there still be enough time to go to Aldenard? And would Rael be able to help them at all? Rael didn’t know any of that but at least they had to try. They had already wasted enough time and with every minute they hesitated the catastrophe got more and more inevitable…

Luckily Thavnair had lots of trade relations to all corners of Eorzea, including Aldenard, so it didn’t take Rael very long to find a merchant who was willing to risk a journey there and would allow the Viera to travel with them in exchange for their help. So Rael spent the rest of that day carrying boxes and bags with all kinds of local goods onto the merchants ship before it set sails early the next morning.

As they left Thavnair towards the west Rael stood at the stern of the ship and watched the land grow smaller and smaller for a while, listening to any kind of sign to prove their decision right. When Thavnair had vanished at the horizon Rael turned around looking forward instead. So they were really going to Aldenard. Further from their home than Rael had ever been.

After leaving the Golmore Jungle Rael had first turned to the north, traveling through Nagxia up towards the Azim Steppe. Then they had turned to Yanxia always careful not to catch the attention of the Empire. From there a merchant had taken Rael to Kugane. They had hoped to travel the various islands of Hingashi but were denied to leave the city, so after only a short time they instead decided to take yet another ship to Thavnair, where they had spent the last few months. And now they were headed towards Aldenard, Vylbrand to be more precise.

Rael had never imagined that their journey would lead them this far to the west, since they had always suspected the threat they saw in their vision was one closer to their homeland. But a meteor crashing down to earth probably proved that hypothesis wrong.

The way from Thavnair to Aldenard wasn’t a short one, even on sea. Only Rael’s journey from Kugane around the southern coastline of Othard to Thavnair had been longer. And all this time the red moon in the sky had grown closer and more threatening. Proportionally to the size of Dalamud the nervousness of the crew and it’s captain also grew.

The man had probably estimated a slower descent of the moon or a faster travel and by now he considered altering the course of the ship so they would make it to land in time, no matter where. Some suggested that it was best to head back to towards Cape Mete which they had passed a few days ago but the captain explained that they wouldn’t make it back there in time. There was no way to tell what would happen if the consequences of Dalamud’s fall would catch them on the open sea. So they kept heading west hoping to make it to one of the islands on the eastern shore of Aldenard and praying that there would be enough distance between them and Carteneau, the estimated area of impact on the western shore of Aldenard.

Rael cursed themself for being stuck on this ship, for not being fast enough, for not having known better than to try this hopeless journey in the first place. But what should they have done instead? Why was it so difficult to hear the voice of the forest recently? Had they strayed to far from home? But didn’t the Oracle intend for Rael to go out into the world? Didn’t they say that it would be the only way to save their home? Then why would the forest haunt Rael with visions of doom and then leave them clueless to fend for themself out here? Where did they go wrong?

No!, Rael desperately tried to silence the turmoil in their thoughts. There had to be something they still could do, there had to be a reason for all of this. The signs had been there and Rael had not entirely misread them for sure. They breathed in and out, slowly and deeply, sat down, closed their eyes and listened, carefully and concentrated for hours. But to their terror they found that there was nothing but the sound of the waves crashing against the hull of the ship and a storm growing closer in the dark clouds above.

"Land!", a man suddenly yelled down from the crow’s nest. "Land in sight!"

Quickly Rael jumped up and ran to the bow of the ship observing the horizon and indeed after a moment a landmass started to appear, dark against the evening sky filled with thunder clouds dimly illuminated by Dalamud’s ominous red and orange glow. A few of the sailors cheered with relief and for a second Rael almost regained hope. Almost.

Then the rumbling of distant thunder grew louder and along with it something else reached Rael’s ears and send a shudder through the Viera’s body. A faint distorted voice, strangely different from any they had ever heard before whispering in the wind. The voice was almost unintelligible and sounded far far away but at the same time it felt so much more intense than anything Rael’s gift had shown them since a long time. They didn’t understand what the meaning of this strange voice was but it was unmistakably important. Rael pressed their eyes shut and tried to listen more precisely. They understood bits and pieces but the meaning behind the words still remained mysterious to them.

Suddenly a loud crash made Rael open their eyes again and turn their gaze to the sky where Dalamud had almost reached it’s destination. Something was happening. Glowing blue lines spread across the moon’s surface like cracks but the pattern was way too geometric to be a coincidence. Nonetheless the moon seemed to break, it’s shards ablaze flying in all directions and crashing to the ground with fiery tails.

Once again Rael shuddered and their skin started to crawl. The eery voice faded to the background as dizziness took over and made them stumble to the floorboards, their vision starting to blur. For a moment everything went silent and black, then the rumbling thunder seemed louder than before and Rael could feel the heat of fire on their skin.

In front of their eyes a city appeared, built on a rocky island with a myriad of piers and wooden walkways connecting the different buildings. Fire rained down on it, crushing bridges and buildings were it hit land and making the water boil and rise were it hit the ocean, causing waves to swallow the lowest areas of town.

Then Rael’s vision blurred again and turned this way and that before coming into focus again. This time Rael looked down like a bird onto a big round city with lots of towers and domes and an enormous palace in its centre. Here the burning shards of Dalamud also crashed down and made thick stone walls burst like glass. Rael also felt like they could hear the panicked screams of the townsfolk fearing for their lifes in the distance.

Then another shift and this time it made Rael’s stomach turn. Below them a dense green forest stretched out pulsing with life, giant trees as old as time with all kinds of animals searching for shelter below their foliage. Then fire started to rain down on it, ripping gaping dark holes into the green and setting the forest around ablaze.

Just like their vision back at the Sanctuary in the Golmore Jungle. Had they been too late to prevent it? Had they failed? Was everything going to be destroyed now?

Rael started to scream. But the terrified shriek they heard didn’t sound like their own voice at all.

Maybe it was that scream that brought Rael back to reality or maybe it was the swaying of the ship or the person shaking them and trying to pull them to their feet.

"No!", Rael yelled and struggled, stretching a hand out to… to what exactly?

"You should go inside unless you want to go overboard!", the friendly voice of the merchant yelled loudly beside them. "Like this we are never going to make it to any of the islands."

Finally Rael started to focus on their present situation again. The ship was being tossed around by tall waves caused by falling fragments of Dalamud that landed in the ocean before and beside them. It was a miracle none of them had hit the ship yet. That was not all however. The fiery shards were accompanied by burning bright beams of light. Confused Rael looked up to the sky and couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

"Is that a…?"

"A freaking dragon? Yes I think so!", the merchant offered. "It hatched from the goddamn moon!"

That sounded crazy. But then again it didn’t sound much more crazy than using a moon as a tool of mass destruction. The beast hurtled through the air with outstretched wings sending beams of light down to earth destroying everything in its way. It was difficult to estimate the dragons size but from this distance alone it looked enormous.

Panicked Rael turned around remembering their vision and trying to orient themself. Aldenard and the destruction lay to the west, so that meant Dalmasca had to be exactly in the the opposite direction. Relieved Rael realised that only a few of Dalamud‘s fragments reach much further east than their current position. That meant the Jungle, their home, was probably safe, at least for now.

However that wasn’t supposed to be the most urgent of Rael’s worries right now, as the sudden surge of terrified screams around them proved. Quickly the Viera followed the gaze of the men back towards the sky over Aldenard. A massive burning chunk was headed directly their way, coming closer and closer every second. With a rough jolt the ship started to groan and turn.

"Everyone! Hold on tight!", the captain yelled down from the quarter deck while pushing all of his weight onto the ship’s wheel.

The ship made a turn to the right just in time to evade the falling meteor fragment crashing into the ocean only about a dozen yalms away. The water hissed and splashed and a tall wave crashed against the side of the ship making it tilt dangerously. Hadn’t Rael clung to the railing as tightly as they had, they would have fallen and rolled across the deck like some of the others did. Luckily none of them seemed to have gone overboard as far as Rael could see.

Once they dared to loosen their grip again Rael and the merchant stumbled towards the quarter deck, where the captain tried to hold the ship steady.

"What should we do now?", the merchant asked.

"We‘re going to head north, towards Gyr Abania.", the captain answered. "We‘ll never reach the coast safely like this. We have to get away from this rain of fire."

"Gyr Abania?!", Rael protested. "But that‘s garlean territory!"

The merchant put a hand on Rael’s shoulder trying to reassure them. "I don’t like it any more than you do, but staying on our planned course would be as good as suicide. Gyr Abania is our best hope right now."

Reluctantly Rael nodded. They knew the man was right. There was no way to undo the damage of Dalamud anymore, they had been too late. But what should Rael do, now that they were in Aldenard? That was assuming they safely made it to land to begin with…

Should they just continue their journey like they had before? They could travel whatever would be left of Aldenard once the dust settled and learn what this land had to offer. The least they could do was to try and help the people recover from this catastrophe and help them to prevent whatever the Garlean Empire had planned next.

With uncertainty they looked back towards the catastrophe unraveling in the night sky. Something called them there, they could feel it, but it felt different than before. Rael couldn’t stop thinking about that strange voice that was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time and that scream that still echoed in their head and that felt like their own but at the same time sounded like a cry for help from far away.

[plagasitize]

[jacksintention]

At times I can be wrong of course, but often I think it's so obvious that someone's view on a character or story (and most of the time lack of sympathy/understanding) is caused by a lack of personal experience

[evilkitten3]

btw i decided to restart my undertale replay bc i wanted to play through in japanese (both the practice and out of curiosity) and. i gotta say the way they handled the fonts for sans and papyrus was not what i was expecting

[thelazyhermits]

Fortune/Uranai Miku/Yuu lives in my head rent free. There are times that I would really like to hang out with her or have her meet people from my other favorite stories. (MDZS and TGCF) I think that she's neat and absolutely adorable while able to kick ass. I just want to say thank you for making her and writing her into my life.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! Thank you so much!! That's one of the nicest things I've ever been told!!! 😭😭😭😭

Seriously, it really means a lot to me to hear that you feel that way about Fortune/Yuu since she's really one of my creations that I'm the most proud of. I have so much fun writing her, so I couldn't stop myself from bringing her from the world of BNHA over to TW since she's just that special to me.

I'm so happy that you feel similarly and that she has had this kind of positive impact on you 💕💕💕

[giantkillerjack]

Thank you, younger me, for drawing so many things in which the lines were never quite right. It is quite literally the only reason I ever figured out how to get them right.

[dandyshucks]

havent said it for a while bc I've been so busy but just know. I am thinking about that guy (guz) every day. and i love him SOOO much dhfjdkdl

[seventh-district]

tag limit my beloathed... continuing my analysis of my potentially Sun x Moon coded ships here ↓