#as much as i'd love her for spirit to have been freed in the end i have a feeling her spirit was eradicated when she became a creature

[frightmeister]

me sitting here wondering if hannah's soul was pushed out of her body via the transformation, freed when they destroyed her, corrupted by the evil spirit or utterly consumed/destroyed by the evil spirit as she was turned into a monster.

[koremakaria]

Quest for the Lost Husband

It occurred to me that The Blossoming Love contains strong elements of the lost husband motif with Eros and Pysche often cited as one of the oldest story with this theme. There are different variations of the story but the common themes of this story motif include:

One: First Comes Marriage

In their first incarnation as Pearl and Saint Emperor Zhaoming the two of them 'married' although it was not exactly 'official official' but given that ZM was going to war with a clan of deities and facing imminent death ... well ... I'd say it was official enough.

Two: Then Comes the Forbidden Rule

After marriage the bride usually has to abide by certain rules that she eventually breaks. She committed this act knowing that she's not supposed to. In this case, Pearl fell in love with a human. As an immoral weapon of the Supreme God she was forbidden to have emotions but Pearl was like 'But Daddy! I love him!'

Three: The Lost Husband is Trapped

She released a part of his soul into the mortal realm where he will enter the cycle of reincarnation for ten thousands years. And without missing a beat with blind trust she was like yeah I'll find him again when I fall in love again. Here. ZM's original body is trapped in the underworld while a slice of his soul reincarnated. In lost husband stories, the husband is usually trapped for various reasons. Sometimes due to a curse or a condition of some sort.

Four: Searching for the Lost Husband

After the separation, the wife embarks on a journey in search of her lost husband. My girl here is like 'screw all of you! I don't care! Fate? Predestination? Yeah, I don't know her. So, I'm going to go searching for my beau!' The badassery is unparalleled.

Five: Trials, Tribulations and the Reunion

So when Pearl and Zhaoming reincarnated as Mu Xuanling and Xie Xuechen they offically reunited here but minus the memory of their past life. This is especially beautiful because she has been looking for him for 10,000 years but also MXL here is also looking for her Da Gege who is XXC's from the future. It's like the entire time she was searching for XXC on top of searching for Zhaoming without remembering that she was supposed to be searching for Zhaoming to begin with. It's delightful!!!!

In lost husband stories, the trials and tribulations are used as sort of a test of commitment between the wife and the husband. Like how much do they love each other and how far will the bride go to find her lost husband.

And because Zhaoming is cursed with false memories, we have more trials for the two of them in the story

Yeah I don't think these two are talking about Forrest Spirits here. Zhaoming is just a sad and confused kitten because of false memories but also the knowledge that he had changed so much over the 10,000 years of imprisonment. This was one of their trials. Basically can MXL accept ZM 's darkness and does ZM still have the capacity to love?

Then the final fight with the Supreme God AND then ... happy ending! My favorite kind of endings!

The husband is found! Usually freed from the curse/condition due to the bride's commitment to him. Here we have ZM willingly returned to his imprisonment and then after 10,000 years Zhaoming and Xie Xuechen merged as one soul with XXC as the main personal. And man, I just love this drama! Thank you drama gods!!!

[professor-cold-ramen]

Why do you worship your god YHWH as the only one? This is a legitimate question? What good does it do for you? Everything your god has done for you shouldn't have anything to do with his status, or uniqueness. I've seen the power of gods alien to your own, from Hel (the goddess I'm closest to, though I do worship others), I've seen her stop animals from moving, protect the sick and wounded, and cause a blind preacher to see her and flee. And I've felt her love, felt her comfort (I probably wouldn't even identify as agender if it wasn't for her help). But because she is not your god you would call this demonic? And say my soul is bound for damnation? Why not admit the existence of other gods, and keep to your own if you wish. How can your relationship with your god even be safe if you can't leave for another? How can it be called anything but bigotry to deny another god's divinity while you worship one yourself?

If you're looking for real answers, here are some answers in good faith. I can only hope my words do it justice.

"Why do you worship your god YHWH as the only one?"

Yahweh is the only god (small g) that I have seen working in my life and the lives of those around me, just as you have felt Hel work in your life. I have seen Him quickly answer my prayers and the prayers of others, in ways that I never would've expected. I have felt His love, even in the moments when I didn't deserve it. Especially in those moments. Because of what I have experienced, I firmly believe that the Bible is from Him and that every single word of it is infallible. I believe that Yahweh:

Created the universe (every piece of it, from the largest galaxies to the smallest gluons) (Genesis 1:1)

Fought for the Israelites, His chosen people, when they were being attacked (and always won, no matter what He was up against) (The Book of Judges has plenty of great examples)

Freed His people from Egypt and Babylon on separate occasions (two of the strongest world powers in those times) (The Books of Exodus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel)

Came to Earth as a baby (Luke 2:11)

Healed the sick and raised the dead while He was incarnated on this earth as Jesus Christ (The Gospel of John, Chapters 9 and 11 among many others)

Died on a cross to cleanse us of our sins that we might be with Him (Luke 23:46)

Rose again after three days, ending the powers of sin and death (Hallelujah!) (Luke 24:6)

Still works in the lives of those who seek Him (Acts 17:27)

Has given His Spirit to those with faith to assist us in our daily trials (Acts 1:8)

Will win the final victory once this world passes away (The Book of Revelation)

Will welcome those who believe in Him into His kingdom (Revelation, Chapter 21)

I believe that He is stronger than any other force in this universe, because He created all of them. Because of what the Bible says, I believe that Yahweh is the the Lord God (big G). He has already done so much for me, and will continue to do immeasurably more as I follow Him. I can see no reason to follow anyone else. No other god is worth following.

"But because she is not your god you would call this demonic?"

Not necessarily demonic. I am open to the possibility of there being other supernatural/divine forces beyond Yahweh. I don't claim to understand the supernatural world. Your gods might be demons or some other kind of spirit. I don't think I'll ever find out, but that is something I'd like to ask Yahweh when I meet him. It's always fascinated me.

"And say my soul is bound for damnation?"

All our souls our bound for damnation. My own soul is bound for damnation. When I die, I will have to stand before Yahweh and his judgment. I will never be able to meet His standards on my own. "Foremost among sinners," as the apostle Paul put it (1 Timothy, 1:15). My only hope is the loving grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, the son of God. Because of the redemptive work He did when He died a criminal's death upon a cross, I have been cleansed of my sins. Christ bore the judgment for me so I don't have to. Just like the prodigal son that Jesus spoke of in His parables, Yahweh will welcome me with open arms. The same can happen for you. I promise it isn't too late.

"Why not admit the existence of other gods, and keep to your own if you wish."

Because these other gods don't have the power to save you. They make promises but cannot deliver on any lasting goodness. You can believe whatever you want. I believe Yahweh has given you the free will to do so. However, I am called to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Keeping to my own isn't an option.

Yahweh truly wants best for you, as do I. And what is best for you is to live in communion with your creator, who loves you and is calling you back to Him. He will leave the rest of the sheep in His flock to come find you (Luke 15:3-7). There is a part of you, no matter how small or how deep it is buried, that yearns to be with Him. Lean into it. Trust me on this, you will not regret it.

"How can your relationship with your god even be safe if you can't leave for another?"

I believe that I have the free will to leave Him. In fact, there have been plenty of times that I haven't been especially close to Yahweh, of my own volition. I screw up. I fall short. I turn away from Him to chase the fleeting pleasures of this world. Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. And every time He welcomes Me back. I pray daily that I might keep my eyes on Him and not fall away.

In fact, even King David, who was described as "A man after God's own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14) made mistakes. He chose his own ways and desires over Yahweh's, usually to disastrous consequences. However, he always returned to worshiping and praising Yahweh, and Yahweh accepted him back. (2 Samuel, Chapters 11 and 12, most notably 12:20)

This is true love. Yes, He will discipline us and let us deal with the consequences of our mistakes, but He will always forgive us and welcome us back. I truly hope that you have experienced an unconditional love like this. If you haven't, I hope you will experience it at some point from the future. In fact, I hope you will experience Yahweh's endless, undeserved, unconditional, overwhelming love. We were created to experience it. There's nothing else like it.

[littlesparklight]

Thought I'd have a whole, short fic to post for this but I'm long-winded and this is basically just the first half of it. (And only really features Menelaos until right at the end.) But, anyway. Sleeping Beauty Menelaos/Paris AU!

Standing in front of a wall thicker and taller than any of the walls of the great kingdoms and empires of either the east or the west, a wall that in seeming innocence was named the Hedge, Menelaos wondered what he was even doing here.

He should be back home - or, if not home, then their family's summer palace, from where he would now rule, until his brother might be freed from the curse. If only he could do it, they might go back to their lives immediately, but family, no matter how true the love, was excluded. Because everyone in the family was encompassed by the curse, which might strike anyone among them who hadn't suffered under it yet.

The only way to avoid that happening at all, as well as the only way to free someone caught in its unleashed grip, was love.

True love.

Groaning, Menelaos sunk into his hands, scrubbing his face. Agamemnon had practically thrown him out before the curse could grip the whole palace. Refused to let him stay and be caught in its orbit; everyone but Agamemnon turned into invisible spirits, mute to the world. To aid the cursed king, but yet not to aid him, whether or not anyone found him.

He could only hope someone might yet be charmed by his brother, despite that… well. He loved Agamemnon, but he knew his older brother well. He was bombastic and ornery, demanding and easily riled, but equally given to defeat. They both were.

There'd been twisting horns like those of great, old rams and long claws, a scaled, snake-like tail thick as his own wrist sprouting from his brother's body by the point Agamemnon tossed him past the palace gate, bellowing at him to take care of himself and the kingdom. He could only wonder what his brother would look like when the transformation was done, but together with Agamemnon's personality…

Gritting his teeth, Menelaos squeezed a hand tight over his mouth. Pushed back the tears by pure will, as he was not a child any longer. He had to master his heart this much, at least. For Agamemnon's sake, for his own sake, and for their kingdom's sake. There were still thing he could do - facilitate - as soon as he returned to what would now be the new capital, in terms of the curse eventually lifting. Every little thing would surely help. And it'd certainly help if he was back home, then, but when just not been able to stay, right then. Looking at the familiar corridors and rooms that yet weren't actually home, and without Agamemnon there…

He'd had to leave.

Just for a little while.

So he'd gone north, if only to have a direction to go in.

Had killed a drakon on the way, one of twisting coils and vicious poison, both he and his horse almost trapped several times before he'd managed to injure, and then kill, it. But while the princess of the land the drakon had been guarding was comely, she was the king and queen's only daughter, and the king wanted to give him half the kingdom now and then the rest upon his death, as much as a prize as in return for his remaining.

Perhaps he could have, if the curse hadn't hit Agamemnon, second son as he was. But he had felt nothing but the slight warmth of appreciation for a fair face, a pleasant conversation, when he talked to her. True love sparked instantly, and without it he didn't dare marry before the curse had hit him. He didn't want to put his spouse, whoever they would end up being, in a position that would aid none of them if there wasn't true love to join them.

There were far too many stories of what might happen if one married and then later a true love became involved, or any other magic or fairy curses. Better to be careful.

So now he sat here, dragonskin cape on his shoulders, two claws as a cloak pin, and dragonskin caparison for his horse, staring up at the Hedge.

It was made out of rose vines, thick at the roots as a man about his waist, the thorns anywhere from a hand's span to a full forearm in length. Black and twisted, it looked as much as a wall, as evenly as it stretched in all direction when one looked on it, as it looked like a forest, if one caught in the dead of winter, bare of all life and greenery.

But this wall of rose thorns wasn't dead.

It was very, very much alive.

It might look like one could penetrate it quite easily; Menelaos could even see what looked like something of a path a little to the left, almost inviting. But whatever it looked like, the truth was something else entirely. The Hedge might let an explorer, intrepid knight or daring peasant, inside, but it let none of them out again. Right in front of him, in fact, was the very proof of that; picked-clean bones of a body, half-sunken into a vine thick as some trees - and a huge thorn thrust right through the ribcage, and more angled in such a manner it was very obvious that they had once been burrowed in the man's arms and legs, biting into his flanks, even before the killing thorn pierced him through.

Many were the stories of those who'd attempted the Hedge - his great-grandfather's brother, in fact, was one of the men who'd tried. Broteas hadn't wanted to wait for the curse after he saw what it did to his, Pelops, and Niobe's father, the first to be struck by it. Not had he wanted to wait for the slim chance that true love would find him before the curse did. So he had left for the north, and never returned.

Did his heart in its distraction think he could do better than his great-grand-uncle?

Snorting, Menelaos urged his horse towards the right, away from the grotesquely speared skeleton that was all that was left of some unfortunate knight - or perhaps a base treasure seeker.

The Hedge wasn't the true goal of those who attempted to penetrate it, after all, but rather the kingdom, swallowed for generations, that was said to lie beyond. It had once been the richest kingdom of the Western Coast, golden as their lands already were. Even the purest of third-born peasant sons might be tempted by such tales, and if they had, clearly the Hedge was far more unforgiving than magic usually was of such hearts.

He was no third-born, nor a seventh-born son either, for that matter, and was hardly going to test the Hedge.

He had a kingdom to return to, a brother he wanted to help as much as he could, which meant he certainly wasn't going any further than this. It just had seemed a pity to have come so far north and not lay eyes on the Hedge up close.

It really was impressive, a breathtaking piece of nature and magic both.

Dismounting, Menelaos took his horse by the reins and led him up to the almost-seeming gap in the Hedge. He still had no plans on going in, but, peering into the twisted shadows beyond the disturbingly even line where the growth of the rose vines ended and the swaying grass of the rolling meadows and hills that stretched out behind Menelaos began, it was easy to see how anyone might think it wouldn't hurt to try to go further. It wasn't inviting as such, but even a horse could, as long as one went slowly, navigate the gaps between the thick trunk-like vines and their wicked thorns.

"You and I aren't that foolish, now are we?" Menelaos asked his horse with a chuckle, giving the gelding a stroke to his soft nose.

His horse nickered, shaking his head with a soft clatter to the metal parts of the tack. The Hedge creaked as if in answer, no wind but the barest of gentle late spring breezes to stir the grass and the hair by Menelaos' cheek. Certainly not enough to make such a noise from thick vines and with no leaves to rustle.

Eyeing the Hedge and the space between his booted toes and the closest visible part of root, he judged no distance had been closed. It was probably nothing - or if it was anything, the Hedge would take nothing that didn't actually and fully enter, first. But how close was that? It was stupid to try to check it. Even if it harmed nothing - it wasn't like he was going in, anyway.

Yet, even as he frowned he also reached out, for he had killed a drakon on the way here, and he was no coward.

Despite how slowly he'd moved, he scraped his thumb on the point of the thorn. With a curse, Menelaos yanked his hand back, sucking in the drop of blood spilling up - and then almost lurched back right into his horse's side, for as he watched a bud burst from the base of the thorn. It quickly swelled up until it burst into blooming sweetness, a couple leaves unfurling around it.

He'd never heard of anything like that happening when someone got too close to the Hedge.

He should leave.

Instead he leaned in, eyeing the thorns nearest to him all the while, to smell the rose.

Those 'rose' seemed to simple a word to call it; it was not like the wild-growing roses, pretty but simple. It was the sort of roses that grew in royal gardens, the roses of fairies. There were satin-soft layers of petal upon petal, a frothy confection of a blossom. It still smelled like any other rose, sweet and rich, heady not for some cause of magic, but merely for the sweetness of the flower itself. When he looked up, Menelaos found himself looking at more than a dozen roses having sprung into blooming, leaves growing out around them and softening the blackness of the vines. No, actual softness; the colour around the flower and leaves was turning from the frozen black of winter into the natural brown and green of living rose vines.

The nearby gap had, soundlessly compared to the earlier creaking, become an arched gate. Menelaos couldn't decide which of the two incidents was more threatening, and hurriedly remounted, turning his horse around. Yet, as he set his horse to walking off, he couldn't help but look back.

The small, blooming patch of living vines was small against the forbidding black around it. As the distance grew, one leaf fell, drying up quickly, and the first rose that'd bloomed when he'd scraped his thumb withered. More leaves followed, and Menelaos brought his horse to a stop. That patch of flowers, already dying…

Closing his eyes, Menelaos whispered a silent apology to his brother and turned his horse back around.

Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe he was making a mistake. The signs of magic invite for the one who might break a curse and of trickery that was meant to bring to ruin unwary, good-hearted adventurers could be hard to tell apart. But to leave a curse intact, if he should be able to break it, would be worse than if he let himself be tricked by a veil of sweetness to his thorny death. It was a cruelty to whoever might yet be beyond the wall of thorns that Menelaos couldn't abide having a hand in.

He rode inside, and as the path remained open behind him, it opened up in front of him, too. Roses kept bursting into bloom around him as he rode through the Hedge, turning it into a sweet-smelling tunnel of all sorts of shades in red, pink, yellow and white. With the leaves following, the light filtering through the thorns was gently dappled instead of the twisted play of light and shadow Menelaos could see beyond his immediate path.

But even that became harder and harder to spot as he went, for the leaves and blooms didn't just follow his progress, but spread outwards, too. And looking behind him, the living greenery didn't wilt, as it had begun to do when he turned away from the Hedge.

It took an hour of letting his horse plod along at a calm walk before he came out on the other side, and in truth the land stretching out here seemed at first no different than where he'd come from. But as Menelaos rode deeper, it soon became more and more obvious that something was off. High above, he could see the darting figures of birds, hear their distant calls. Down here, it was quiet, only the wind rustling through grass and the trees. The path had let him out onto a road, surprisingly well-kept considering everything; there was a road on the other side, but the stretch closest to the Hedge was in terrible disrepair, and the part he must've ridden along through the Hedge had been all but destroyed by the rose vines.

An hour later, Menelaos was riding alongside a grazing field, and all the cattle on the other side were asleep. The farmstead he passed, no answer to his first few calls, he also found asleep.

He considered turning around, but - he had provisions for a week and the image of the wilting roses and leaves haunted his heart. Same as with the sleeping farmers, and the cattle too, if less so. If there was anything he could do, he couldn't just turn around and leave them all asleep. Unlike with his brother, who would need to wait for someone else to help him, here, Menelaos could - perhaps - actually do something.

Conviction alone couldn't soothe the discomfort of the unnerving stillness of a land asleep around him, however. He slept terribly that first night, opting on camping outside despite that he had ridden past a respectably sized town only an hour before sunset; the idea of taking a bed in an inn, though that was what it was for, in a city where all the inhabitants were asleep was just far too much.

Menelaos half feared he'd never wake up again, if he slept, but he woke to a fresh, early summer morning, the air already beginning to heat up. His horse, too, had no trouble either with sleeping or with waking. He took to talking to his stalwart gelding in the late mid-morning hours of that second day, for he was no good at singing. It passed the time, at least.

It took over two days of alternating between a brisk trot and walking before they reached the kingdom's capital, sitting like a jewel in a lady's necklace near the shore of a beautiful bay with a curving shore. The Hedge grew thick and tall straight across the middle of the bay, casting long shadows over the clear, turquoise waters.

There was no real reason for this to be his destination before he turned around, in truth. But it seemed reasonable that if he should be able to help, it was here he would be able to do it.

So Menelaos rode through the city, up past several terraces of parks and great houses to reach the top of the hill the palace itself sat on, and then across a sprawling, circular square dotted with fountains and hemmed by stately rose bushes, shielding a royal garden, no doubt. Eyeing the wildly growing hedges, blooming sweetly in the early summer sunlight, he wondered if it was from them the Hedge had grow out from, until it ringed the whole kingdom. Closing within it a sleeping land untouched by time.

And why?

He could remember no stories that explained why the Hedge had come to be, for what reason thorny magic had enfolded this rich kingdom.

If there had been stories, they were lost to time, perhaps.

Menelaos left his horse near the last, great fountain in front of the palace's entrance. Tied only very loosely; in case something went wrong, hopefully the gelding would be able to pull himself loose.

"Well… wish me luck," Menelaos muttered, giving his horse a pat before he went inside.

The palace was made of buttery-golden sandstone and marble, rows of columns holding up arches and galleries in a style unfamiliar to Menelaos. Even the main street he'd followed here had had a middle course of marble, and the stories of the kingdom's wealth were looking more and more reasonable. The villages and towns he'd passed on the way here had all seemed well-off, too, a certain air of comfort suffusing even the outlying farmsteads.

In the throne room, sprawling and high-ceilinged with a gallery as a second floor, but sporting the half-familiar heart surrounded by four columns in the center that Menelaos remembered from paintings of his great-grandfather's time and court, sat the king and queen on their thrones, surrounded by a court half in session.

They were about his own age, the king a serious-looking young man and his queen stately, but with a softness about her face that made her seem welcoming even lost in sleep. He couldn't wake them, and uncertain whether he should take to other methods than gently shaking them or calling for their attention - he felt no spark of true love gazing upon either of them - Menelaos wandered deeper into the palace.

Through rooms and corridors, past sleeping men and women, nobles and servants both. Nothing gave him a hint as to what might be done to aid them, and Menelaos had no fairy godparent to ask for help or other suggestions. The last one who had come to their family in such a manner was to his grandfather and his brother, and they had been left when the curse took them both, triggered by their own hands.

No wiser or nearer any obvious solution than when he'd decided to turn back towards the Hedge, Menelaos kept walking.

And in a sprawling apartment of rooms overlooking the sparkling bay, Menelaos found the most beautiful young man he'd ever seen, sprawled out asleep on a couch.

[rpg-elf-girl]

Shadows House

I have a lot of thoughts surrounding this particular show, both good & bad.

Allow me to give a quick summary for anyone who hasn't seen/read it!

Shadows House is about 'a faceless family of nobles who all live within this giant manor, the Shadows House.

When a Shadow comes of age they receive a 'Living Doll' to both serve as their face and to clean the soot they emit from their bodies.

The most important rule of the living dolls is "don't fret over trivial matters"

A task which is difficult for the ever curious doll Emiliko.

Watch this tale unfold as Emiliko & her mistress Kate navigate this ever mysterious Manor together.'

For a fan of slow burn thrillers, horror, slice of life, supernatural & mystery series' this has been an absolute blast!

It's not quite the combination of genres you'd expect from a show, but it works really well here!

In fact I was so into the anime that this is actually the first show where I broke down and read the manga!

Unfortunately there's no official English release, but at least there are some people translating the series!

As much as I'd like to go on about the manga, this post is meant to be more so about the anime so I'll (try to) leave it at that.

Though i feel obligated to warn anime onlys I'll likely refer the manga a lot in a spoiler section latter in this post I'll try to be vague but I can't guarantee anything. For anyone worried about that I'll lable it do you can read on until then.

Everything from the animation to the music was amazing & completely fit the mood of the story! I remember a couple scenes where I actually teared up because of this!

The Ending theme is an absolute banger! I've listened to that on repeat ever since I first heard it! And the Opening is also great! It's cool for it to be an instrumental, stuff like that is pretty rare! I also heard the song in the op as a motif in the music throughout the show! It really sets the right mood in each scene it's in! It's amazing for getting into each episode!

In terms of adaptation almost everything from the beginning to the end of the Debut arc was done amazingly well!

Even with the stuff they cut it still holds true to the spirit of its source.

The main important part that was cut is something that could easily be introduced latter if they decide to go for a second season, so I'm not too mad about that.

However! Everything after the debut is a bit of a different story.

There was a lot I liked about the last couple episodes but there were some parts that were immersion breaking for me.

I've been being vague up until this point l, but I'm planning on going into spoiler territory for both the anime and manga after this. So I'll make a quick spoiler free summary of my thoughts before moving onto that.

I really really loved this show but in my opinion the last 3 episodes were the weakest of them all. They went anime only for the ending. I don't mind that on it's own, but it was rushed and the writing was sloppy at times.

Now I'm not telling you to not watch the show! Most of It's really really good, and I can still see people enjoying the parts I'm talking about if they want to give the anime a try. Overall I've fallen in love with this series and I could never recommend it enough.

If what I'm saying is giving you bad vibes the manga is available and doesn't have the issues I've mentioned. You can look for a translation online, it didn't take me long to find one so don't worry too much about that.

Also! if you're an anime only who's finished the series and want to know where to pick up the Manga I'd recommend at least skiming through the beginning. I know it might not be what you're looking for but there were a bunch of small scenes that either got cut or were merged for adaptation purposes that I think are super cute & give more context to different aspects of the setting. However! Pay close attention during the "night watchers part" something important got cut .

~~~Now for spoilers!!!!~~~

I don't want to make it sound like I'm some manga purist who hates the very thought of the slightest change from the source. I'm anime only for a lot of different shows and I've always despised it when that type of manga reader reared it's ugly head.

While I'll admit some changes did bother me I won't make a fuss about the smaller stuff.

With that said!

I hinted earlier in this post that I didn't have a big problem with Robe-same being cut. That was because without them there it does make for a more complete story if they only get one season to work with.

If there is another season they can easily be introduced latter on. Like maybe Emiliko & Shaun can meet them when the Debutant class reunion is going on before they talk on the roof (or right after that) I actually think that would be the perfect time to introduce them (other than the time they were supposed to appear, but I digress)

Louise teaming up & being friendly with Kate can be explained with some dialogue changes at the first Debutant Class Reunion. Louise can say she was just trying to show off or that she just wanted to get back at Edward and that she isn't interested in helping Kate with her problems. Things can then go on as they did in the manga.

Kates being reckless & telling everything to John can be explained by her being extremely panicked when Emiliko went missing, as long as there are some lines of dialogue adressing this it's fine. Though I do wish she tried to keep some stuff a secret but couldn't because Shaun tries to interfer because he's still brainwashed, or something along those lines. It felt a bit weird after she just told Emiliko to keep that stuff between them. Still that could be explained by how panicked she was.

There are other things, but I don't want to drag the post on too long. Most of the issues can be fixed with little changes here & there.

I never had a problem with the idea of them going in an anime only direction. I just want to have a good time with the show.

Unfortunately I can't 100% vouche for the direction the show went in. There were elements that I can't excuse, even viewing it as it's own entity instead of an adaptation.

My main complaint with it is how they handled the brainwashing of Ricky & Lou. They didn't say a word when the Debutants were talking badly about Edward & even went along with a plan to go against him. It makes absolutely no sense!

Shaun freaked out when John only suggested that he didn't have to be loyal to the house. These guys were flat out rebelling against an adult! It felt like Ricky & Lou didn't have a purpose & were just there to be there.

The whole point of the coffee is to influence shadows against doing stuff like this. It makes the coffee seem pointless and the adults seem dumb for relying on it to control the kids.

I haven't even brought up the fact that both of their brainwashings were broken by something as simple as a few kind words. It straight up contradicts the rules established by both the Anime and Manga.

This becomes very apparent when you consider all the trouble John & Kate went through to free Shaun & Emiliko.

This was my biggest complaint, but I have some other issues as well.

The next big one is how they handled Edward.

1. Why on earth would he even consider kidnapping Emiliko when he had complete control of the childrens wing? Before this point he was depicted as being a lot more crafty than this. He could easily have Kate monitored or something.

2. Why didn't he use his powers to stop them like what he did to Maryrose & Rosemary when they fought back being taken to the adults wing? He's already shown off his power at this point, why not?

3. Why did he reveal his soot powers at all!? Especially while using his face in front of the kids! The whole unification thing is one of the biggest secrets of the house for good reason! There's no way he wouldn't get in huge trouble for exposing it to children!

Here are some other related questions.

Why didn't Kate, Emiliko, & John react to Edward using soot powers? They shouldn't know about unification yet so why didn't they act shocked, or say anything about it?

Is Edward being banished even an option in the Shadows House? Wouldn't the third floor lords just dispose of him rather than risk letting him leave?

How did John even get a veiled dolls outfit? Louise had to use her powers to get Kate one & she left a long time ago.

I can't think of much else at the moment, but I think you get my point.

Please don't take this as me saying that I hate the show because of these episodes. Even if I consider them the weakest of the series I still found a lot of parts to be very enjoyable!

Like I thought it was adorable When Edward was attempting to interrogate Emiliko & she kept being her sunshine self pretending to eat & falling asleep.

Barbara getting to tell off Edward for breaking the rules was great!

I loved seeing Shaun hatch the plan to get Kate into the adults wing to save Emiliko.

Seeing John (attempt to) sneak around the adults wing had me rolling!

The ending scene of Shaun, Ricky, & Lou singing gave me the chills.

(Though I wonder how they'd handle Shaun & Emiliko being brainwashed again since they already used the scenes where they're freed)

Kate & Emilico being propelled by John back to the children's wing was absolutely amazing! I found Shaun & Ricky running over to catch them to be super sweet! (Not to mention the way that scene was animated was absolutely gorgeous!)

Getting hints to what was supposed to come after the debut was nice, at least the groundwork is there in case this gets a season 2!

To (try to) wrap this all up while there were a lot of things I loved and disliked about this show I still had a really fun time watching it!

I kinda hope there's a season two just to see if they can tidy up the mess that the last few episodes created.

Regardless of whether that happens or not I came out of this with a series I absolutely adore.

Heck I could make a whole other post about the manga. (Hopefully one that's less ranty)

Anyway! I won't take any more of your time.

I hope you all have a wonderful day/night! And I hope to see you in my next post!

(Sorry if this one was a bit of a mess!)

[scarletemeterio-thesecond]

hello, I'd like to request a zuko imagine with an earthbender reader, i was thinking maybe like he likes them but he thinks there's something between reader and sokka so that's why he doesn't say/do anything? and I'd love it if reader was toph's older sibling

I really liked this request! I wanted to try and do something different so it's written from Zuko's pov. It took me like three days to write this and it's pretty long, hope you like it!

-Mica :)

•••

Heartfelt Confessions (Zuko x Reader)

Warnings: None

Genre: Fluff

Fandom: Avatar, The Last Airbender

Summary: See request

Word Count: 2553

Zuko's POV:

Here I was, in front of the people I once tried to defeat, trying to make things right. I really wanted; I needed this to work out. I knew I was destined to help the Avatar.

"Hello, Zuko here" I said. Why did I say that? Of course they knew who I was; I had followed them for a long time!

As soon as I said that, they all got ready to attack and to be honest, I didn't blame them at all. I explained myself as best as I could, which wasn't actually very good at all, and then I waited for their response.

"You can't possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you?" said the waterbender girl.

"One of you has already! And I've done some good things" I said.

"What do you mean by one of us?" asked the little earthbender girl.

I immediately looked at the other earthbender in the group, whose eyes now were full of despair. And as I did that, everyone else did too.

"Back in Ba Sing Se, we ran into each other once" I began, now looking directly at them. "I knew you could tell who I was, I figured you were with the Avatar but you never told them that I was there when you faced Long Feng, did you?" 

"What!?" said the earthbending girl. "How could you hide something like that? We could've known Zuko was in Ba Sing Se? I'm your sister, (Y/N); I thought we told each other everything!"

"Just tell us what happened, (Y/N)" said the waterbender, a bit strongly.

"The Dai Li had opened some kind of tunnel to get me away from you. I tried to come back as soon as possible but I found him instead" they said, looking at me. "I never said anything because so much had already happened... between Jet and the entire Long Fend thing I- I'm sorry, I should've told you. I didn't think he would do what he did later in the cave, he had freed Appa and I thought that maybe... He had some good in him. I'm sorry".

"That's right, you should've told us" began saying the guy from the Water Tribe, "but we know you didn't mean any harm, (Y/N)". After that the boy put an arm around (Y/N)'s shoulders.

"S-See! I could've stolen your bison but I set him free! That's something" I said, still trying to get them to trust me.

"Appa does seem to like him" said the little girl.

But they still were suspicious, and things got even worse when I admitted that I had sent an assassin after them. They rejected me and told me to leave, so I did. Thankfully, the following day, after so many mistakes they allowed me to join them and teach firebending to the Avatar.

Aang and I started practicing as soon as possible, but shortly after we were forced to stop; for some reason I couldn't firebend.

"Hey, jerks" suddenly said Sokka. "Mind if I watch you two jerks do your jerk bending?"

"Sokka, don't say that!" said (Y/N) while passing by.

"Get out of here, Sokka!" I screamed, clearly annoyed.

Sokka left while laughing a bit, but the earthbender decided to get closer to us.

"Hey, what's going on, guys?" Is everything okay?" while saying that, they sat right next to Aang.

"I think Zuko lost his firebending".

"I didn't!”

"Well, I think someone's a bit on edge right now. I'm gonna go and do some earthbending with Toph. Maybe I'll be able to annoy Sokka a bit, too" (Y/N) said as they let out a little laugh. 

I couldn't avoid looking at them and think about how sweet their laugh was until Aang snapped me out of my thoughts. I really had to do something about my firebending.

 After going back to the Western Air Temple with Aang, we quickly got back to training. Although that didn't last long since this time I was going on a trip with not only one but two members of the group. 

"I still don't know why you came".

"You have to understand, Sokka, there's no way I would've let you do this by yourself" said (Y/N), still slightly arguing with the boy.

"I wasn't! Zuko was gonna come with me".

"And now I am too. I couldn't just stay there and lie to Katara and everyone about your trip, and I couldn't just do nothing!"

"I just don't want anything to happen to you, (Y/N); I care about you, okay?"

"I care about you, too, Sokka. But we're in this together. All of us" after saying that, they both made a pause, and when I turned around to look at them, they were already looking at me. "We're all on the same side now".

We all nodded in agreement and suddenly there was silence in the air.

"You know, a friend of ours designed these balloons" Sokka said, starting another conversation. 

I paid attention to him but I could tell (Y/N) was lost in their own thoughts before drifting off to sleep while sitting next to Sokka. It felt so weird to have a crush on someone who was with another person. It even felt wrong. Ever since I joined the group I've tried to get them off my mind, I've even tried to stay away from them, but it just didn't seem to be working out. I sighed before turning my gaze back to the sky in order to distract myself from my own feelings.

When we got to the Boiling Rock, we decided to pretend to be guards. Shortly after that, Sokka got sent to take someone to the 'cooler', leaving (Y/N) and me behind. On lunch time, we tried to get some information about the prisoners, trying to find out if Sokka's father was here, but we weren't lucky. When we reunited with Sokka, I told him that there were no Water Tribe prisoners.

"What? Are you sure? Did you guys double check?"

"We did, Sokka. I'm afraid he's not here" said (Y/N) while taking his hand, trying to calm him down.

"I'm really sorry, Sokka".

"So we came all this way for nothing? I failed... again".

"Ugh, what would uncle say?" I wondered, trying to be positive. "Sometimes clouds have two sides, a dark and a light, and a silver lining in between. It's like a silver sandwich! So when life seems hard, take a bite out of the silver sandwich".

"Maybe we haven't failed after all" Sokka said, now a lot more hopeful.

"That's the spirit! I can't believe that worked, I didn't even know what I was saying".

"No, what you said made no sense at all".

"Yeah, Zuko, for real" said the earthbender, laughing at me.

"But look... It's Suki".

"What? I can't believe she's here!"

Sokka left quickly to wherever this girl was.

"Who's Suki?" I asked a bit confused.

"She's a friend of ours, and she had something with Sokka a while ago" they explained. "Come on, we have to go!" they grabbed my hand and took me out of there, going to wherever Sokka had left. I couldn't help but blush, thankfully it wasn't noticeable because of my helmet.

(Y/N) and I decided to keep guard outside of the cell, letting Sokka go inside.

"You seem pretty chill about this" I commented, without fully understanding the reason why.

"What? I'm completely terrified; we could get caught in any minute! I'm just trying to remain calm".

"That's not what I meant, I-" I realized a guard was coming towards us, so I stopped talking and knocked on the door, letting Sokka know that we had company.

To say things didn't go well was an understatement. We couldn't just let her get into the cell, so we had to fight back. Now, (Y/N) and I had been arrested for being impostors, which wasn't wrong of course, but it definitely wasn't what we had planned. I was sent to my cell, where Mai's uncle threatened me and then we were told to clean the floors.

"Listen, I think I have an escape plan" said Sokka once we were all together. "I checked out the coolers again. The whole point of them is to keep firebenders contained, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So they're completely insulated and sealed to keep the cold in. Well, to keep the cold in it also has to keep the heat out, right?”

"Just get to the point, Sokka" said Suki.

"Yeah, my brain is starting to hurt" agreed (Y/N).

"I'm saying it's a perfect boat for getting through the boiling water".

It wasn't going to be easy, but we had no other choice; we had to get out of here no matter what.

Once I was sent to the cooler I started taking out every single screw. Sokka came to take me out and we overheard some guards saying that some new prisoners were coming in tomorrow. Some war prisoners, specially.

“It could be your father” I said.

Sokka nodded and I asked what we were going to do.

“I don’t know. Is it right for me to risk Suki’s freedom- all of our freedom- on the slim chance that my dad is gonna show up?” he asked. “What if we get hurt or caught? What if something happens to (Y/N)? Oh my god, Toph would literally kill us!”

“Hey, calm down, Sokka. It’s your call; we’ll do whatever you say”.

We decided to go to the shore after all, it’s not like we could keep the others waiting.

“Are you sure you want to go? You’re the one who said you wanted to redeem yourself, redeem your honor” I said, still not sure about Sokka’s choice. “Rescuing your dad is your chance”.

“What do you mean? Is Hakoda here?” (Y/N) asked, looking at us.

“No, but we heard some war prisoners were coming in tomorrow” I answered.

“I’m going to stay, you guys go. Suki, you’ve been here long enough”.

“I’m not leaving without you, Sokka” the girl said.

“Yeah, there’s no way we’re gonna do that!”

“I’m staying too” I said. (Y/N) was right: we’re all on the same side now.

The others ended up getting caught, and quickly we were in a lockdown.

“The gondola’s moving” said Sokka. “If my dad’s not here we risked everything for nothing”.

“We had to” as Suki said that, she grabbed his hand. I couldn’t help but look at (Y/N); not only because I wanted to hold their hand too, but also because I was afraid that little action could hurt them. Still, they didn’t seem to bother.

Sokka’s dad was in the gondola after all, and we speedily went back to our cells. Not much later, I was taken out of my cell and sent somewhere else, where I saw Mai. I didn’t think I’d see her again, at least not until all of this was over. I guess I was wrong. We had a talk about me leaving her, but when I had the opportunity, I ran out of there, I had to go and meet the others.

“Great, we’re all here. Now all we need to do is grab the warden and get to the gondolas”.

“Good, how do we do that?”

“I’m not sure”.

We started arguing about him not thinking this through but we were cut by (Y/N)’s voice.

“Could you just shut up? Suki’s taking care of it!”

And they were right. Suki was heading towards the warden, successfully making him our prisoner. We ran to them and then we started running to where the gondolas were.

It was difficult, but we managed to escape, mainly because of Mai. I figured Azula had to get there somehow so we took her airship and left.

We had been travelling for a few hours, and everyone had fallen asleep, except for (Y/N) who was looking at the sky.

"Aren't you tired?" I asked.

"A bit, but I like looking at the stars".

"Be careful, I wouldn't want you to fall off".

"I'm fine, dummy, you don't have to worry about me" they said before giving me a soft smile. "The girl who helped was Mai, right? Your girlfriend?"

"My ex-girlfriend, and yeah. I wish I could thank her".

"Was it difficult seeing her there?" I stayed silent for a moment, trying to figure out why they were asking me this, but when they spoke again, it seemed like (Y/N) had read my mind. "I'm asking you this because you're with us now, and I care about you, Zuko".

"Its was… weird, but not difficult. I did feel a bit bad for getting over her and liking someone else, though".

"Ooh, who is it?"

"I'm not telling you".

There was a brief silence between us before (Y/N)'s voice cut it.

"Well, if any of us looks tired then it's you" they said, changing the subject.

"Yeah, well, I'll sleep once we get to the Air Temple" while I was saying that, I saw (Y/N) getting closer to me. "What are you doing?"

"Sorry, it's just that- You're pretty warm and in case you haven't noticed, it's cold". I didn't say anything, I just stood there. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to annoy you or anything, I know you don't really like me".

The last words were said in a soft mumble, but I still heard them. I raised my head, looking at the earthbender's eyes with confusion.

"What do you mean? Of course I like you".

"It's just that, you know, you kind of avoid me so… I figured you didn't like me".

"No, I- I didn't want to come in between you and Sokka so I just stayed away, you know?"

"Between me and Sokka? What do you mean?"

I took a deep breath and turned my gaze away from theirs, trying to think about what I wanted to say.

"You and Sokka are really close so I thought you were dating or something so I stayed away from you in order to not come in between you guys because I kinda like you and I know that's wrong and I- What are you laughing at?" I cut my own words once I started hearing them laugh.

"You really thought that Sokka and I-?" they kept laughing and I had to tell them to be quiet, we didn't want the others to wake up. "Oh, that was funny, I really needed that".

"Yeah, you're welcome" I said under my breath, hoping that my little confession had gone unnoticed.

"Wait, did you just say you like me?" they said, processing my words. "I-I didn't know you liked me like that" I closed my eyes, clearly not ready for the rejection.

"Look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, I know you probably don't-" I was cut by a pair of lips on top of mine, giving me a soft kiss. I didn't have any time to react before I felt their lips separating from mine.

"I like you too, Zuko… like that" I smiled cheesily at their words before pressing my lips against theirs again.

[ganymedesclock]

What do you think is the relation between Light and Void? They are opposites in many ways, like how Ghost can gain Essence only from ghosts, and Soul energy only from living enemies. But both energies still seem tied to what I'd call 'spirit', because essence affects dreams, while soul is self-explanatory. They seem like complementary powers that have similar effects when overflowing, like you see with Godmaster DLC endings compared to the Infection.

So this might seem like a rabbit trail, but, roughly, here’s my thinking.

What Hollow Knight tells us that Silksong’s basic premise confirms is that there are two mutually true statements:

Hallownest is surrounded by wastelands

Contrary to the Pale King’s words in the Howling Cliffs, there are other kingdoms beyond these wastelands

This intrigues me because it’s fair to presume Pharloom has other gods to its name, or at least had at one point, which IMO, would seem to suggest they still have gods. We have yet to see a dead god that truly leaves behind no lingering seed of their presence. Unn is absent according to the tablet her children leave behind but she still has a physical body; she is a weak god, not a dead one. Radiance, when killed in the Dream No More and Embrace the Void endings, dissolves into Essence. And Grimm and Radiance can be refought after their boss fights that ostensibly kill them, even if it’s in a dream. The Pale King is dead- his corpse can be found- but the Seer, who isn’t proven inaccurate about anything else she says- cheerfully wonders if he’s watching Ghost.

Even, seemingly, the “Blackwyrm” Ogrim alludes to- there is some manner of enormous, jet black creature with blue eyes that can be seen in both Godhome and the lifeblood abyss dream. 

Let’s assume for a moment that Pharloom is also going to be surrounded by the wastes. Let’s assume- since we have no reason not to- that Hallownest is standard; a kingdom containing all manner of flora and fauna, surrounded by an empty, nearly-lifeless no man’s land. After all, assuming the Pale King is the author of the whispering lore tablets, since they speak in his voice and the author states indirectly they are a Higher Being (”your great strength marks you among us”), we know he traversed the void himself before arriving at the edge of the kingdom to leave behind his Wyrm body. And he claims “there is no world beyond”. It would suggest even if he’s wrong (many other bugs, from Quirrel to Cloth to Zote to Cornifer, suggest or outright state the existence of other kingdoms that they’ve traveled to) he views the world as empty.

This would seem to suggest that life exists by clinging to specific habitable zones created by gods. Possibly, Grimm’s adherents, being oddballs, occupy a travelling bubble of life and safety created by his power- it would explain why, when dream nailed, the two giraffe weevils resting outside his tent are thinking about how the roads are dark and cold, but their master is always guiding them.

That said, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Light and Life are synonymous. While many beings allude to the Void as death, that’s not the full picture. Lifeblood- the substance most directly conflated with “life”, appears to be abyssal in origin. There are artificial void beings- the Kingmoulds and Wingmoulds, among them- and natural ones as well. The snail shamans appear to have been long ago born from the void itself- the shamans you free from the Crystallized Mound and the Soul Sanctum both dissolve into shadow just like the Collector. And what’s more interesting is that Lemm’s remark on the description of the Void Idol tells us that there were bugs that worshiped the void.

Void does not appear by its nature antithetical to light. In fact, the truth seems to be more interesting- void appears primed to devour light when the two come into contact. It seems to take a lot of light and a weakened void for the former to triumph- see the Broken and Pure vessels. And at their pinnacle, Pure wields the power of holy light, effectively and without hurting themselves.

Roughly, what I think is going on is that Light is roughly the energy of a god; they are beings made of Light, who radiate it, like living suns. This is worth noting, because at least Hallownest as we saw it does not appear to have any natural sunlight- outdoor regions are perpetually overcast and dim, and the majority of the kingdom is underground. All light comes from either artificial lighting or a natural glow that seems to pervade certain areas.

The gods radiate light, and, in that light, life flourishes. In the sense of Essence, that’s described as “fragments of light that dreams are made of” but several sources, most noticeably the cut full text of the Elegy for Hallownest, suggest that dreams are not exclusively a gift of the gods. Seemingly, all living beings have dreams.

And most interestingly? That’s not just the light-aligned beings. Kin, when purified of the Radiance, with their spirit freed after the Lost Kin fight, still has essence to give Ghost. The Collector can be dream nailed and read. Ghost’s ascension to the Shade Lord basically predicates on their ability to enter dreams, and on having the awakened pure nail.

This is really interesting if you consider Ghost becoming the Shade Lord seems to involve aggregating a lot of essence to them. And many of the Warrior Dreams, after their defeat, talk about entrusting themselves to Ghost, watching them or coming with them or being taken somewhere by them. The Seer also remarks that “the dreams of this kingdom are starting to stick to you.”

The Elegy for Hallownest also implies both the Pale King and the Pure Vessel took the Kingdom’s dreams onto themselves.

So, perhaps, if Higher Beings can be thought of like stars, then, the heat and pressure that forges that star is by hitting a critical mass of essence. It would explain what gods get out of this symbiosis with “Lower” forms of life- to retain their power, to not fade away and gradually diminish, they need to retain believers, who will continue dreaming the dreams that sustain them. Radiance parasitically forces herself into others’ dreams by creeping through the minds of those who already knew of her, and then as her strength regained she was able to attack the minds of others- helped that she was the  god matriarch of the moths, who specialized in manipulation of dreams.

So where does this leave Void? I think that Void is simply another god’s light- albeit a particularly eldritch light, coming from the oldest god we know of.

The relics from before Hallownest’s history are all void-aligned. The Pale King and White Lady usurped the Radiance to become Hallownest’s new gods, and seemingly pushed aside Unn to do so... but it’s likely that Radiance overthrew another god- because she greets Ghost as “ANCIENT ENEMY”.

I think the Blackwyrm was the first god of Hallownest, and its stamp yet remains on the kingdom- most directly, in the form of the void totems, arcane eggs, the snails and Collector, the lifeblood cocoons, and of course, the black sea at the bottom of the kingdom, but I would expect, before Radiance’s rule drained the water away, it’s likely that sea was much higher than the Abyss.

What makes me say that? Well, Hallownest loves shells, doesn’t it? And the most common kind of shell that appears, all over the place, as high as the Forgotten Crossroads, in-game?

Ammonite shells.

Ancient sea creatures.

Flowing water would likely have bored out the expansive network of natural caverns the kingdom takes place in. And, again, the Snails would appear to be the descendants of natural void creatures. There’s certainly no ‘fetter’ on them like the Pale King imposed on the Moulds and Vessels. There are land snails. There are also sea snails.

The Abyss is heavily conflated with the distant past and this notion of primal life. The Hunter’s Journal entry for the Void Tendrils has the Hunter outright talking about how the bugs of Hallownest wondered what predated them- that the Hunter is wondering about this here would heavily suggest that the primal life of the void is that ancestor.

The Radiance went to war with the Blackwyrm, but, it’s likely the Pale King never did. The White Defender’s journal entry has Ogrim reference only a single “battle of the Blackwyrm”. That’s not a war. And the Pale King is way more willing to stick his face and hands (and children) in the void looking for a leg up on the Radiance.

This could well be a kind of generational ignorance acting here. The King came after Radiance had ruled for long enough to establish the moth tribe, and for the moths to get quite entrenched- if the Resting Grounds are only what was left of the tribe after a long decline, that’s still a rather fancy area with a lot of personalized tombs and markers. So he’d have arrived long after the Blackwyrm’s first defeat. And even the Snail Shaman doesn’t allude to the Blackwyrm- people who mention the idea of life in the Abyss mention it in words of idle curiosity and speculation. If we presume Lifeblood is tied to the Abyss, and tied to the Blackwyrm, as the creature in the background of the Lifeblood Dream and that door in the abyss would certainly seem to imply, then the closest thing the Blackwyrm has to an extant worshiper is Joni the heretic, and implicitly some others given Salubra cheerfully mentions drinking lifeblood is kind of a taboo, which, you don’t establish taboos for something that nobody is even considering doing.

Blackwyrm is a forgotten god- so faded and distant that they’re only peeking around the corners through dreams. It might well be that by the time the Pale King encountered the void, he viewed it as something without sapience entirely. After all, he perceives the Vessels as “mindless” when you could make a two-hundred point bulleted list over things that Ghost canonically does, either actively in cutscenes or implicitly in the thrust and limiters of the game, that make no sense if they’re a mindless puppet operating only on the instructions they’re given. Like, for example, sitting with Quirrel or Marissa, or walking slower in some sections than others.

The implication is the Pale King viewed void as something mindless and godless, but it was neither.

And the interesting takeaway from that? Is the idea that the Pale King may have given the Radiance’s ancient enemy an open door without even meaning to. After all, Bardoon outright says- death to a Wyrm usually means transformation. So perhaps in creating the Vessels, the Pale King was actually just imposing fetters on fragments of the Blackwyrm- and with the Godmaster endings, Ghost was the one to shatter that fetter and ascend to the emptied throne of the God of the Void- the new incarnation of the Blackwyrm.

[bambooxchello]

The Melting Pot - Chapter 25

***Chapter Links***

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]

~~~

The plane was large, Erza could never remember the names of the different aircrafts. She preferred to fly on her own pair of wings, and she hadn't been able to do that in centuries. This craft in particular was military grade, meant to hold dozens and dozens of soldiers plus their cargo. That was exactly what they were going to use it for.

Erza was helping her friends onto the plane, all but carrying Levy to her seat. Stubborn girl, she thought as she sat the blue haired girl down. She was still hurting, her loose clothing brushing against blistering skin enough to make her dizzy. Yet she still refused to be left behind.

Erza knew how to help though, in a small way.

"Try to stay awake til I get back," she told Levy as she straightened.

"Sure thing boss," Levy said, trying to keep the strain out of her voice.

Erza smiled at her before turning away, she always admired the girls fighting spirit. She wound her way through the quickly filling plane, nodding in greeting to those who spoke to her. She was on a mission, looking for one man in particular.

"Erza! Here!" she turned to the sound of the voice, seeing an arm waving over several heads.

She made her way to him, smiling when she reached him. "Freed, so glad ya made it."

"Like I'd miss the big fight, or keep Laxus away for that matter. " Freed was a tall man, a sorcerer with a thick British accent lacing his words. His long green hair was braided back from his face and his eyes a soft blue. He wore a sleeveless coat that stretched to his thick black boots, showing ancient writings tattooed onto his arms. A rapier rested at his hip, usefuly when the had to get up close with an enemy. "Besides, I had to deliver this to you didn't I?"

Erza easily caught the small red jar Freed tossed her way, tucking it into her jacket. "Your a dear lad."

"Not many people need essence of Caron anymore, especially since there's only one tree left."

Erza smiled, a bit sadly. "Those trees used to be all over the highlands, we used to tend to them. One of the young ones was injured badly in the Italy attack, she'll be needing all the help she can get. Any left over I'll use on the others."

Freed nodded as he turned to finish helping loading things into the plane, "Let me know if you need anymore. There's still time to harvest before it hibernates for the winter."

Erza nodded her thanks before turning back to the others. It took her a bit longer to reach them, there were more people on the plane than before, but soon she was kneeling in front of Levy. She was glad the girl had yet to put her jacket on, leaving her poor arms exposed.

Levy cracked her eyes open as Erza uncorked the jar, breathing in the sweet Caron perfume. "What is that?" she asked, her voice only slightly less strained.

"This is essence of the Caron tree. It is an ancient tree once cared for by us dragons," she informed her as she dipped her index finger into the paste. "There is only one tree left in existence, and it is in the hands of a trusted sorcerer. This is made with its sap, and has unique qualities." She gently dragged her finger against Levys skin.

The woman tensed and hissed in a breath, before sighing in relief and going boneless.

"What does that do?" Cana asked as she knelt beside Erza to watch.

"It helps ease pain, the scent alone does that, and helps increase ones healing rate."

"So, what, it's a magical healing potion?" Natsu asked.

Erza chuckled lightly as she continued to put the cream on Levys arm, writing in ancient Dragonic. "Not quite. Human bodies aren't meant for quick healing, yer cells and metabolism can't keep up. Unlike mine, which is made for that. The cream, along with the spell I'm writing, will start mending the major damage. The burns will lessen but wont go away all together yet, bones will begin to knit, as well as deep skin tissue. There is still a chance of scaring, but she will be in much better shape to fight. I'll use the left overs on those of ya who have more troublesome injuries."

By the time she was finished explaining the spell was written on both of Levys arms, and the girl was beginning to doze off. Erza set the jar down and took Levys hands in each of hers. Erza took a deep breath, and as she exhaled smoke drifted from her nose, and warmth spread from her to Levy. The cream on her arms glowed a warm honey gold before slowly dimming, and she released their hands.

Levy cracked open her eyes and smiled tiredly. "Thank you Erza."

"Not a problem lass. You should sleep the whole flight, it will help with the healing."

Levy nodded slightly and closed her eyes, falling fast asleep. Erza had everyone settle into their seats and began using the rest of the cream on Natsu and Cana. When she was finished the doors of the plane were closing, a hush falling over the overfull plane.

Erza stood, pocketing the jar as she did. "Get some sleep, it will be the last you'll have in awhile."

She turned and headed for the front of the plane, where she knew Jellal was preparing to take them into the air. As she made her way into the cockpit, she caught sight of his copilot, a slightly younger woman who was nearly Jellals twin, her long blue hair braided back from her face much like Freeds.

"Arina! I didn't think you'd make it lass!" Erza grinned as she sat opposite of her husband.

The woman grinned as she pulled on a headset. "You really didn't think I'd let you and my brother of all the fun again did you?"

"Are we ready to take off?" Came Lilys voice as he entered the cockpit.

"Say the word boss," was Jellals answer, the engines roaring to life to warm up."

"By your leave Fernandez."

With that, Jellal and Arina piloted the plane down the private runway in Denmark, taking off for the Siberian wilderness. In all actuality, they headed for a small island just off the Northern Russian shore between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea called the New Siberian Islands. The plane would fly over the main island, delivering the first attack before landing on the Eastern coast of the island and unloading their army.

Once the plane was at its elevation, Jellal gently took Erzas hand and kissed her palm. "Get some sleep dragonfly, it will be the last you have in awhile," he said, echoing her earlier words.

Erza snorted lightly at the usual nickname but did recline in her seat, never releasing Jellals hand as she dozed off.

She was awoken several hours later to Lily called silence to the crowded plane. She stood, pausing when Jellal tugged on her hand. "Be safe love," he told her sternly.

Erza smiled and leaned down to press a tender kiss to his lips, one that soon grew hot and almost desperate. She reluctantly pulled back and squeezed his hand. "I don't do gallows kisses sweetheart."

Jellal smiled a bit guiltily, "Then be safe like I told you." He gave her another swift kiss before finally releasing her hand.

Erza made her way into the belly of the plane where Lily was informing everyone once again on the landing plan, finishing with "Flyers to the rear." She made her way to the back of the plane, along with about two dozen others. There were witches and shifters, as well as two of her dragon kin.

"Glad to see you made it Mirajane, Laxus." She greeted them.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" Mirajane said with her usual bright smile, her Scottish accent matching her own. She was a beautiful woman, tall with long snow white hair that was currently tied into a bun at the back of her head. Her eyes were a deep gray, with a fire burning in their depths that her cheery smile hid well.

"Like I would miss fighting beside you again," Laxus said with a small grin of his own, his brogue rumbling in his chest. His short golden hair was spiked in a Mohawk, a jagged scar went over his right eye. He was a large man, even larger than Gajeel and was stacked with muscles.

"It'll be nice to spread our wings again," Mira said excitedly as she stretched.

Pleasantries were abruptly ended as, with a loud groaning, the back hatch of the plane began to open, revealing the barren land below them. There were commands for non flyers to stay strapped in so as not to get sucked out of the craft, having to shout over the rushing wind.

There were whoops of excitement as shifters and witches ran for the abyss, jumping out into the ether. The three shared a sharped tooth grin before following after the others, leading from the platform.

It had been ages since she had experienced the wind rushing through her hair, whistling in her ears and the feel of weightlessness. As the ground grew ever closer, she shifted.