#apologies for letting this languish in the inbox for so long!

[lady-harrowhark]

Upon reading the Wikipedia synopsis for the 1997 Don Bluth Anastasia film, and then subsequently the Wiki page for the historical grand duchess Anastasia, I have learnt that the name ‘Anastasia’ is apparently derived from a Greek name meaning “of the resurrection”. And as I know you are a big TLT fan I’m coming to you asking… is this anything? What are the implications? Obviously everyone in the empire is ‘of the resurrection’, but why is Anastasia specifically given this meaningful name?

Fantastic question, and one I’ve been mulling over myself. I think there are two main pieces here, and there are undoubtedly people on here better suited to expounding upon both of them than myself, as both of these topics are beyond the scope of what I can give a super nuanced explanation of, but I’m out here doing my best!

The first is, as you said, in relation to “the resurrection” with roots in “anastasis.” Within the context of Christianity, this is almost always in reference to the Resurrection, that of Jesus. Gideon is the obvious Christ figure of the series, but in NtN, most of our main characters get a little sprinkle of Christ figure imagery at the very least. However, I actually think that the more salient thing here is that within Christian art, the Anastasis specifically refers to depictions of the Harrowing of Hell. Eagle-eyed readers may recall that Harrow herself is named specifically for the Harrowing of Hell. The Harrowing of Hell, in turn, refers to the period of time between Christ’s crucifixion and his Resurrection on the third day. During this period, he descended into Hell and brought salvation to the righteous souls there, leading them out of Hell. I’ll throw in here that the stoma is said by John to be the mouth to Hell. Make of that what you will.

Additionally, I’ll point out that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is also known as the Church of the Anastasis. This is significant to our Anastasia because the Church of the Holy Sepulchre/Church of the Anastasis includes the site of Jesus’s crucifixion… and his tomb. Which sounds more than a little familiar, no?

So the second big thing is that within biology, “anastasis” has a similar but distinct meaning. Take a look at this quote which I’ve pulled from a journal article not really because of anything about the article itself but because the wording makes the comparison super easy: 

Anastasis is a natural cell recovery phenomenon that rescues cells from the brink of death. Programmed cell death such as apoptosis has been traditionally assumed to be an intrinsically irreversible cascade that commits cells to a rapid and massive demolition. Interestingly, recent studies have demonstrated recovery of dying cells even at the late stages generally considered immutable.

Was anyone else immediately reminded of this conversation, in which John asks Harrow to explain apopneumatism (which appears to be a play on apoptosis itself)?

“Thalergetic decay causes cellular death,” you said carefully, pressing the nail in harder, “which emits thanergy. The massive cell death that follows apopneumatism causes a thanergetic cascade, though the first bloom fades and the thanergy stabilises within thirty to sixty seconds.”

Because I sure was.

In this same conversation, they talk about the life force and communal soul of a planet, arising from “the accumulation of microbial life” and what happens when you kill a planet all at once: Resurrection Beasts. Alecto.

Taken together, I think we’re looking at some very significant imagery regarding not just Anastasia, but her relationships to Harrow and Alecto as well. We have a guardian of the Locked Tomb, in which lies the soul of a murdered planet and the ostensible source of necromancy. Given where we saw her last, Anastasia seems to have set some plans in motion to not only halt this death but bring her back. A resurrection, and perhaps salvation for those who have been trapped within the stoma, which is to say: Hell.

[itsthechocopuff]

writers ask: 30, 23 and 21

also just wanted to let you know i've loved your fics for the longest time and, although they're all my favourites, whilst i was waiting for you to update pmw, you began to upload cthots...it changed my life and is my favourite thing of all time!! even though i remember my favourite being oliasc for a quick minute asdfghjdjshs

apologies for letting this ask languish in my inbox and thank you sm for your kind words!! <3

21: can you accurately predict how long your fics are gonna be?

*laughs hysterically* i'm REALLY bad at estimating chapter length lmao. cthots started as a <20 chapter project. i just uploaded nr 30. caged bird started as a <10 project for the whole fic, we're now on chap 10 and barely through the first arc. i'm notorious for underestimating how much i want to write, so no, i cannot predict.

23: dialogue or description & why is the other one so hard?

team dialogue all the way. description is scary because you have to constantly think in 3D and also try to describe the most banal gestures in a way that doesnt make you sound like you're an alien and is at the same time understandable and recognisable to your readers.

30: describe a fic that almost happened but then it didnt

i wanted to write a founders era nart time travel at some point. might still do it at some point but atm my two main stories are time travel so like,,,gonna have to get through those first

[bangchanswolfpelt]

The way perv soob just PLAYYYSSS ON MY MINDDD NOW CUZ OF YOU 😣😣😣😫😫😫😫🤤🤤🤤🥴🥴🥺🥺🥺💖💖

If you can fit it in I would adore some more perv soob, perhaps some somno ?? Boob obsessed soob ?? Getting caught ?? If those don't fit the perv soob agenda then that's totally fine do whatever you will with it bestie 😫😫🤤🤤

Also, I absolutely adore how half your stuff is 8 paragraphs minimum stop apologising for that silly, it hits too good for you to be cutting it down

Anyways hope youre doing well and have a good day <3

this is so sweet 😭😭😭😭

more pervy!Soob is definitely on the way, we have him penciled in for at least one day of Kinktober (and let's be real, i'm probably gonna work it into at least a couple of our other Soobin days too 🥴), and i'm definitely gonna be writing more of him beyond that as well because he's just too much fun to play with 🥰

and boo, the pervy Soobin agenda is anything and everything we want it to be, it is a malleable canon with diverging timelines, it is a choose-your-own-adventure. i've got out a longer somno fic i'm mapping out rn (and at least a couple of the branches on that involve him getting caught 😈), and the inbox is full titty-loving Soobs waiting for my attention 🤤 if there's anything specific you wanna see with him, tho, don't worry about whether it's inconsistent with anything we've established and drop me a line!! pervy Soobin is a multiverse for all of us to play in💕

y'all are gonna inflate my ego so much, i'm gonna get insufferable if you don't cut this shit out 😭 but seriously, i really don't have the words to explain how much i appreciate messages like this??? i feel like a dummy repeating myself, but it really makes me so happy and so excited to keep sharing my writing with y'all 🥰

also, me apologizing about things getting long isn't actually about the length, so much as it is—i just don't know when to stop? which means nothing ever gets posted as soon as i want it to be, haha 💀 y'all come to me with so many good ideas and i haaaaaate having them just languishing in my inbox or my drafts folder 😭

also, this seriously made my day when i got it, i hope you're doing great, nonnie💕💕💕💕

[dear-mrs-otome]

Firstly, thank you for all that you do! I was wondering if you'd be willing to shed some more light on Theo's love scene. I know he agrees to make love to MC regretfully, but would like to know more... ahem, details. (´-﹏-`；)

Hi Nonny! First off, let me apologize for how long this languished in my inbox - things have been hectic as we all know.

I have some good news and some bad news for you though. The good news is, I’m happy to talk more about Theo’s love scene anytime anyday anyplace. The bad news...I’ll put under a cut because major spoilers...

The bad news is, Theo’s love scene isn’t super detailed - it’s mostly just pain. But I can do my best to do a detailed summary, given my SEVERELY limited JP, and we can definitely cross our fingers and pray that the English localizing team works their smutty magic on Theo’s scene as well as they have the other boys. That way we can be sobbing AND horny at the same time! Such fun!

Bear in mind this is the premium version of the scene, and also bear in mind I make ZERO GUARANTEES ON THE ACCURACY OF THIS 🤣

So! If you’ve read my rundown of his route you’ll know that Theo decides to break things off with MC to spare her the pain of his revenge. He goes to her room, tells her that she should go home when the door opens and downplays their brief relationship as something they should both just move on from. 

She asks if he will forget about her, and a (lying) Theo smiles and says he will. At that point, she loses the fight against the tears she’s been holding back, and she asks him if she can just ask him one thing.

“...Yeah,” he tells her.

“Did you love me, a little?” she asks.

His eyes go wide and tremble, and then he kisses her suddenly and fiercely, pushing her back onto the bed. When they part, his face looks even more anguished than hers. She wonders why, as she reaches to touch his cheek, but realizes that it won’t make a difference - no matter how close to him she is physically, she’ll never know what he’s truly thinking. 

“I only wanted to make you happy,” she tells him, and he apologizes and tries to get up to leave.

But she grabs his shirt and stops him, asking him to please continue. Even if it’s just for one night, she thinks, she wants to have him to herself, by her side.

Propped on one arm, Theo stares wordlessly down at her...and then reaches for the buttons of her blouse. The bed creaks softly beneath them as he trails fingertips over her, the night breeze from her open window grazing her exposed skin, setting her trembling.

“...Are you sure this is alright?” Theo asks.

“Yes.” If she has to remember this love for the rest of her life, she wants it carved onto her body as well. Wants to know the warmth of the person she keeps in her heart.

He touches her as if she is made of glass, and at the sound of her sweet cries Theo’s face twists as well as he coaxes her on. 

“...Are you all right?” he asks, and she nods, desperately, frantically. Theo’s tenderness makes her forget about being self-conscious...but she wants to feel him with her. As his thrusts slowly grow in intensity, she grasps his hand and clenches it in a daze. His eyes, his voice, his touch are all so gentle...its almost easy to forget that this is both a beginning and an end.

“Theo...I love you.” When she slips her arms around his back, he stops moving at once and gathers her in his embrace. 

“Even if it's somewhere I don't know. Be happy,” he tells her.

She can’t see what sort of expression he wears.

Later...Theo wipes the marks of tears from MC’s sleeping face. “I did love you. You were right. That’s why I will be the only one to take this fall.”

------

(Cybird does us the favor of having these italicized lines voiced in his voiced-route...and by favor I mean the exact opposite T_T)

So there you have it - its not super detailed, and like a lot of the smut in JP kind of vague...but the English localizing team does such a great job of spicing stuff up that I’ll be curious to see how this comes out in the end. There’s a bit of spice in one of his endings, but there is always event epilogues too which never disappoint!