#ashi theories

[waeirfaahl]

My thoughts about Aku from “Samurai Jack”. The Child of Sorrow in-depth

Monsters are tragic beings. They are born too tall, too strong, too heavy. They are not evil by choice. That is their tragedy. (c) Ishiro Honda As a kid I watched lots of animated films from many countries. Some of them I liked, some of them even stuck in me very deep and had strong influence. Among animated series in my childhood there were several I really enjoyed — one of them is “Samurai Jack”, of course. Unusual visual style, unique atmosphere, memorable characters, feel of threat, epicness and tragedy, humour and horror, mind-blowing setting and locations, the relatable protagonist you respect and... the antagonist, who became my favourite character and inspired me in many senses. Of course, I am talking about Aku, who is genuinely the most underrated and deprived character of the show. Very sad, but true. Here I will talk about exactly what I noticed during watching the show. Some kind of tribute for Aku and the original classic seasons, i.e. true canon. Probably Aku was the first unusual and unique creature for me, when I was a child. He had otherworldly traits, but at the same time he was incredibly relatable, he was a living being with lots of emotions and bright personality, he could be funny and dangerous at the same time. I associated him with a tree, a totem of forest spirit and alien, similar to the ones from “The Thing” (1982 film). Although Aku is a shapeshifter, in his true anthropomorphic form he has traits of a dragon, a cat, a wolf and a bat. The spikes on his head, similar to the crown and spider’s legs, are some kind of ears and vibrissae, since he moves them, raises or lowers them depending on the joyful or sad mood. Aku has a very keen sense of smell, because he easily smelled Jack hiding, and before that, he realized by the smell of blood that Jack was the son of the Emperor. His hearing is also quite acute, because even through his rolling laughter he heard the rustling produced by Jack, albeit belatedly. But with eyesight, not everything is so clear. Despite quite a good reaction speed, because of the squinting, it seems that Aku sees very small objects (especially flying and fast) much worse than large or medium ones (in "Birth of Evil" episodes as an example, when he fought against Jack's father). At the same time, he calmly measures and controls his enormous physical strength at any size (for example, he did not scratch Jack much, although his huge and powerful claws could cut or tear apart Jack easily). He takes forms of animals and insects, very rarely (2 times — Ikra and in 9 episode 4 season) humanoids, what also can hint that he likes (or at least neutral) animals (if they don’t try to attack him) and dislikes sentient beings or specifically humans. Even his army is always demons and robots, so in comparasion with humans, who used animals for battles and wars, Aku is pretty humane, surprisingly. Moving aside from stereotypical “Darkness means evil”, his colors (black, green, red and white) have ambiguous meaning. Green can represent envy and life/immortality, red can represent anger/danger or love, black can represent sadness and mystery, white can represent innocence and death. Surprisingly, but these meanings are parts of his personality (remember this moment), and he always keeps his true colors in every form. It means that he can’t change the structure of his body and he only mimics visually, from another side, it means that he doesn’t hide his true self. His biology, aside of lots magic abilities, is also pretty interesting for analyze. Aku has no inner organs, no bones, no muscules, no skin, no genitals, no dna and so on (hence absolutely no sexual reproduce and no half-breed offspring and no pregnant mortals). Aku is neither male nor female, his species reproduce, using fragmentation or budding (what we can see in “Birth of Evil”), i.e. Aku is genderless creature and genetically he is a sibling to his dead ancestor from “Birth of Evil” (yes, they are two separate creatures — Aku doesn’t know about the alien gods and their weapons, Aku sees only Jack’s sword as the only weapon that can hurt him, Aku doesn’t have memories of his ancestor, only ability to shapeshift). But his blood resembles petroleum and acid, his blood/essense easily melts iron and metal and, how we could see in the classic seasons, is incredibly deadly and poisonous and even devours a mortal to death, if his blood happens to be inside of mortal. That confirms Aku is unable to mate with mortals or other deities at all. But it doesn’t make him the evil — lots of animals from Earth (sea snail, jellyfish, fugu fish, various snakes for example) are deadly poisonous and can kill human, but they are not the evil. Since Aku sleeps at the bottom of his castle in the bowels of the earth, he likes warmth, and temperature of his body is also pretty high and hot, while frosty and cold locations make him sick (I still have no idea, how he got the flu, being immortal and invinsible creature, who can travel in space for visiting Imakandi tribe and oceans — especially considering acidic blood, which is a perfect disinfectant; and I wonder, whether he found out about Jack being infected by his blood or not — probably Aku slept and felt himself as a gamer with Oculus Rift) probably because of changes and decreases in body temperature. Another interesting moment I noticed in “Birth of Evil” and in 1 episode 1 season. I always wondered, why the black lake released new spikes after absorbing drowning beings (humans and animals). As well as I always wondered, why Aku was imprisoned as a stone tree and was free after the solar eclipse (like, Jack’s father didn’t know, what can happen and how to either destroy or seal Aku, and how he can be free again — he knew only that the sword harms and weakens Aku). The only explanation I have about the stone tree is that it was not only Aku’s prison, but also defense mechanism, some kind of cocoon for hibernation and healing after serious wounds and weakening, while the energy of the solar eclipse just helped Aku to be cured faster and be free again (apparently even his ancestor had some connection with stars in the space). Hence logically even if Jack will defeat him, Aku will be in this hibernation stage again and won’t die (although, I wonder, what happen, if Jack will pierce the sword with Aku into himself or any living being instead of ground, or if he will not pierce it into anything). About the black lake and spikes... Logically it is also a defense mechanism and a tool for investigating location, getting information about life around and killing any threat, which wants to attack (partially that can explain, where this entire “Aku (”evil” in Japanese, akuma “demon” in Japanese), Shogun of Sorrow, the Deliverer of Darkness” comes from — some drowning humans could yell these curses during death toward the black lake). Another moment I wondered — what kind of poisons the arrow had, since it somehow gave the life to Aku instead of somehow killing the fragment? Earlier I assumed that Aku was inside the fragment, which was in gestation-like stage (what also can explain lots of spikes as a defense mechanism — it protected Aku and gave basic information for fast adaptation and successful surviving in the world after birth), while the poisoned arrow forced the fragment to birth the creature before the need time, i.e. Aku is kinda premature and underdeveloped. However, what if these spikes are also failed attempts of the fragment to birth the new creature, while Emperor’s poisoned arrow had a mix of materials and substances, which helped the fragment finally to birth the new creature, Aku? (like, after interaction of the poisoned arrow with the black lake we see the two small flames, indicating the life) I.e. literally the forest of corpses, i.e. Aku’s dead siblings, which became the defense tool. Maybe it’s creepy, but very plausible. And Emperor can be called Aku’s father literally (creator is the correct word for this, but you got my point). And exactly here is the starting point of Aku’s tragedy and Jack’s tragedy (yep, when your enemy is your brother). Despite acting like a ruthless tyrant in some episodes, Aku never gave impression of absolute villain. He was a cynical, asexual and always lonely trickster, a mirror opposite of Jack (Ying and Yang thing), but they both had the same problems — suffering because of ancestral mistakes (Emperor’s mistake specifically), deprivation of free will, they were abandoned, lost and lonely in the cruel world. Since my childhood I felt bad for Aku for many reasons. Several episodes gave some hints about his past and his personality and reason for fixation on Jack, but after “Birth of Evil” episodes the puzzles finally became the single picture. In "Birth of Evil” episode, we see the ancient cosmic entity, and how the three creepy alien gods kill it (my thoughts about what this entity is and about three alien gods and about weird aspects of Jack’s sword you can read here — better if Jack and Aku finally became allies and fought together against these gods, who are the true villains, that would be awesome and epic ending). But one tiny shred of the dead entity falls on Earth, causing extinction of dinosaurs, it eats and grows. Obviously, all human generations considered the shred/fragment/black lake as pure evil and wanted to kill it. Jack's father wanted to destroy the fragment of the cosmic dead entity, but instead he accidentally created Aku and rejected him, attacking him and causing his aggressiveness and the events we see later in the story. I guess, Emperor has pretty low IQ, since he thinks it is a good idea to insult and to provoke the large and unpredictable supernatural being, which even wasn’t aggressive to him (I’d say, Aku was pretty friendly), and to tell that he wanted to kill the being. Lots of people say “If Aku was not the pure evil, he would ignore Emperor and go away. I wouldn’t conquer the entire world because of one dude who insulted me”. I guess, these people think and judge from perspective of mentally and psychologically healthy person with normal childhood and normal life. They don’t realize that it is almost impossible to meet an adequate human in the Middle Ages for such a creature — nobody would simply accept Aku, all would consider him a monster and the evil that needs to be killed (might I remind you, in ancient times some people believed that swamps and bitumen pits are den of evil spirits, while solar eclipses symbolize the arriving of evil). Under such pressure, he would have done what he has done in “Birth of Evil” anyway. The only chance for Aku to become normal member of human/mortal society in Middle Ages and further — if Jack’s father accepted him, when Aku was born. But Jack’s father subtly said to Aku “You are an accident that should never have existed and lived. You should have died. My intention was to not give life and freedom to you, I wanted to kill you” and started to attack him with arrows and sword, confirming his intentions, where the battle and imprisoning strengthened hatred within Aku toward humans, mortals and especially toward Jack’s father and later Jack (who took responsibility without knowing the origin of the conflict). And we got unwanted, abandoned, rejected and embittered creature, who never got a chance to be loved and accepted. Aku is the result of humans’ fear of unknown, prejustice, ignorance, disregard and indifference, where the one human could undo this, but in noble desire to save his family and kingdom he himself created the monster, who punishes and shares his eternal pain with all. When Aku looks at arrows in his hand and then looks at Jack’s father, for few seconds you can notice resentment, sadness and disappointment on his face before anger. Plus, Emperor’s words and deeds could be interpreted by Aku as not only insulting and rejecting, but also as “You and other world think that I am the evil from the beginning and even without knowing about me. Very well, I will be the evil, because there is no point to be anything else". Aku was born innocent, but death surrounded him before birth and became his companion, he could learn to trust and love, but anger and hatred replaced them, hence he sees it as forbidden weakness and disgrace of worthless mortals, immortal life was corrupted with envy especially toward Jack, formidable foe and the son of the fool, who created Aku. Aku is the true child of sorrow, the painful grief, deeply rooted within Aku like the poisoned arrow of the human, who could become a father to him. (I still think that the arrow is still inside of Aku — plus, in some cultures arrows symbolize war or life, so it makes sense) After this, his lines about "Once again I am free to smite the world as in the long past" and "Now, my formidable foe, you will pay for my pain in the past with your pain in the future!" toward Jack get deeper shades. The line about “to smite the world” is literally "to punish humankind” (how it happened in “Birth of Evil” episodes). The line about “my past pain and your future pain” also partially explains, why Aku didn't try to kill Jack in some episodes, but only destroyed or stole time portals, mocking on Jack. And it gets even more deep shades in episode, where saddened Jack finds his destroyed kingdom and remembers his happy childhood — like, similar feelings of pain and loneliness of someone, who was abandoned in cruel and unknown world. Aku’s line from comics “You will always be alone, samurai. But as long as I have you, I will never be alone!” is another perfect explanation. Aku sees Jack as his equal and as someone, who probably could understand him. Also I think, Aku sees in Jack not only the enemy, who can ruin his plans etc, but also he sees in Jack his father, what strenghtens his hatred toward Jack, and Aku probably feels... envy. Because Jack was a wanted child for his family, because Jack is open for world and can find friends, because Jack never gives up and stays kind person, he helps to everyone and has a hope to return home, where his family and friends loved him, and where Jack was happy. He has something Aku was deprived of (and even never had). I always wondered, why Aku calls himself a wizard instead of demon or some supernatural being. Can it be self-hatred because of unability to accept and let go the past? I don’t know, but Aku needs therapy. Aku created the multicultural society with technological progress instead of killing entire life, he didn't harm kids from the fairy tale episode (I assume, his first fairy tale can represent his hidden desire to be a hero in kids’ eyes — if he didn’t care, he’d just ignore/kill them or whatever), he used only robots and demons as his army and policy. (for some reason I recall lines from the song from Moana "Far from the ones who abandoned, you're chasing the love of these humans, who made you feel wanted").

What I noticed — Jack’s father even didn't tell to Jack about how he accidentally created Aku, he only mentioned "This evil demonic wizard attacked my kingdom, I heroically fought and defeated him" or whatever (here is more detailed post about this moment). Hence Emperor didn’t realize what he has done. Remember the short scene in 7 episode 2 season, where Jack’s parents clung to each other, and the shadow of Aku's head towered over them — just imagine, how furious Aku was after sending Jack to the future, how he cruelly punishes Jack's parents and all those enslaved and for minutes freed people. That would be really dark and emotionally powerful scene — especiallly if Emperor finally realized his mistake and begged Aku to mercy Empress and other people, since it is only his fault, but without avail. Aku’s hatred toward Jack’s father was also hinted in two scenes — in 1 episode 1 season, where all enslaved people worked together, while exhausted Emperor worked alone and was tortured by demonic servants, and in 4 episode 3 season Aku refers to him as “your worthless father” during confrontation with Jack. Interesting... can Aku be called a mononoke (vengeful spirit, corrupted with negative emotions, caused by human)? This tragic and dark aspect of the character stuck with me for many years. The theme, where the one is a bitter "mistake" of one ignorant human, the another one was destined to destroy his father's "mistake" only 'cause of its dark origin, i.e. both were deprived of choice and free will. And there really could be awesome and dramatic epic, where the two lone characters understand each other's tragedies and through some events change. The theme, where exactly the choice is important, not origin or prejustice, i.e. something more deep and mature than banal "White savior defeats black wizard" thing. Because if to have absolutist one-dimensional worldview and to consider Aku as irredeemable pure evil, there is a chance to meet or hypocritically ignore uncomfortable question “Wait, by this logic, Aku was born that way, so he never asked to be born that way and can’t change, he is doomed from the start of his existence to be the evil and be killed only because of his origin. Isn’t that the tragedy?! He is the victim of either his nature or humans’ sins”. So yes, the best option would be exactly giving to Aku his arc “from antagonist to antihero and hero’s ally”, where Jack helps to overcome his inner conflict, healing him, and they do some heroic thing together. Surprisingly, this “kids show” from early 2000s and made me to think about pretty dark and dramatic themes.

But 5 season happened, and my emotions were “Look at how they massacred my boy!”... Here I already discussed that the father of Ashi and her sisters is unstated. Since her dad is unstated, I prefer to think that he was a random human (probably killed by her mother), while Ashi (similar to Blade from 1998 film) was only one in her litter, who got infected by Aku’s blood and survived (very rare type of horizontal gene transfer or whatever — maybe ‘cause Ashi was the weakest, so also we see some kind of sudden and unusual symbiotic relationship or whatever, ‘cause apparently exactly Aku’s blood saved her life in 3-4-5 episodes, and she didn’t die after falling from height or electricity — it reminds me the moment from “Princess Mononoke”, where Nago’s hatred curse devoured Ashitaka from inside, but saved Ashitaka’s life, when one of the women shot at him and he had serious blood loss). That’s the only reasonable explanation I have. Since I don’t consider 5 season as canon, I have some own thoughts about how 5 season and the true ending of the show should be and about characters’ arcs in it, but I’ll make a separate post about it later. 

This post is a tribute to Aku, who deserved really great story and ending, but was ruined and killed by own creator/author, who cared only about the monkey girl Mary Sue, a thief, a parasite and an impostor, who stole Jack’s and Aku’s arcs and backstories. Rest in peace, magnificent boy, and drink tasty tea with uncle Iroh and Mako, looking at sunset in valley.

[eyesofthetrees]

2 faces behind the mask

[jakesimfromstatefarm]

[wip!] the art & science of parenting || jay park

update: this fic's been posted!! click here to read!

a/n: hellaur everyoneeee here's a lil summary & drabble into another wip i'm working on rn,,,i had this idea in the back of my head for SO incredibly long (im talking since 2021 pls) and decided to finally go for it :') so here's a lil peek for the time being to prove i'm still alive heh. i hope you guys like this concept,,,idk why but i really envisioned jay in this trope maybe because i plan on making it very fun & lighthearted but mixed in with some serious & angsty tones...we shall seeeee....you know i love my college!aus and e2l!aus heheh anyways saur sorry im yapping now! lmk what you think & if you want to be tagged !!

genre: jay x female!reader, fluff, comedy, college!au, enemies to lovers!au, parenting!au (parenting a robot baby LMAO), sum angst maybe, both reader & jay are smartasses who don't know how to communicate and confront their feelings , also a bit of photographer!jay :')

summary: The Art & Science of Parenting 101 (PSY1009) – In this interactive course, students will explore the psychological, social, and biological foundations of parenthood. Through a mix of theory and hands-on practice, you'll master the art of raising a simulated baby—aka the 'robot child.' Late-night feedings, tantrum taming, and crisis control are all part of the deal. What you didn’t expect to be part of the deal? Getting paired with Jay Park—the last person you’d trust to raise, well, anything. You’re pretty sure he couldn’t even take care of a pet rock. Now, you’re stuck co-parenting this robot baby together for 40% of your final grade.  Warning: Sleep deprivation is guaranteed. And maybe, just maybe, some unexpected feelings for your disaster of a partner. Good luck!

longer drabble under cut! <3

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・

"Y/N and Jay."  

Wait. What?  

Your head snaps up so fast it's a miracle it didn't pop off your neck and roll away.  

You blink. You must have misheard.  

"Y/N and Jay," Professor Kim repeats as if she could read your confused expression, voice too nonchalant for the life-wrecking news she's about to deliver: "You two are partners."  

The words hit you like a bus. No, not even. The words hit you like a bus driven by a T-Rex that flips over, crashes into a building, and explodes into a million ashy pieces. And there you are—standing right in the middle of the wreckage, somehow still alive to suffer through every second of it—while Jay, smug as ever, whips around in his seat to face you.  

And of course, there it is: that look of his that screams 'This is going to be so much fun for me, and so much pain for you.' 

"Guess we're parents now, Y/N!" Jay chimes, his voice dripping with so much sarcastic enthusiasm you swear he just got handed an Oscar for Most Annoying Human. If that tone were a substance, you'd bottle it up and use it as insect repellent. On him. Repeatedly.  

You blink at him, you're sure—you're praying—this has to be some elaborate prank. Maybe Jay bribed Professor Kim with his rare attempt at turning in an assignment on time just to mess with you. Or maybe the universe just hates you and this is your karma for stealing your roommate's last ramen packet that one time a year ago.  

But no, Professor Kim keeps rattling off other pairs like it's business as usual, as if your entire academic career and sanity isn't currently being flushed down a metaphorical toilet, while you sit there, paralyzed, your brain rapidly melting into a useless puddle from the sheer thought of being paired with him.  

"What's wrong, Y/N?" Jay teases as he leans over the back of his chair towards you. "You don't want to play house with me?"  

You narrow your eyes at him, mentally wielding your imaginary bug spray like it's a holy weapon. "I don’t," you reply flatly. "In fact, I’d rather perform open-heart surgery on myself with a plastic spoon than co-parent with you." 

Jay’s eyes light up as his hand goes to his heart. "Aw, you really know how to make a guy feel special. This is why I like our little relationship, you know?" 

"Relationship?" You scoff loud enough to make the people sitting three rows behind you to glance in your direction. "The only thing we have in common is a shared oxygen supply." 

"See, that’s the spirit," he says, turning back to face the front like he didn't just ruin your life. And somehow, that pisses you off even more. Is it his voice? His stupidly perfect hair? The fact that he breathes in your general direction? At this point, he could literally sneeze, and it would still feel like a personal attack.

Is it too late to switch majors? Or schools? Maybe even countries? Surely, restarting your entire college career as a super senior would be better than spending the next six weeks parenting with Jay. Jay Park, who has probably never held anything more fragile than a Red Solo Cup.  

Jay Park, who is just sitting there, all calm and collected, clearly loving every second of your misery.  

While you're frozen in pure, unadulterated horror.  

Your grade? Plummeting as we speak.  Your robot baby? Probably going to need therapy by day two.  And you?  

You're screwed. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・

decided to go for a longer sneak peek than usual bc im very excited about this one heh :) i also changed up my title image formatting..trying out smth new !!!

lmk if you want to be tagged!

<3, addie

[serawis]

- SERAWIS - Alive (skin undertones)

Tired of sims looking ashy, especially when choosing cooler skin tones? Me too! So I made this. It's a colour theory used by many artists and is vital in 3D texturing to make skin look alive. You only need a very subtle touch to breathe some life into them, so multiple swatches are available.

Compatible with all skin tones

Compatible with all skin overlays and defaults

HQ Compatible

Colour Slider Compatible (highly recommended so that you can bring the opacity way down if you need to)

All ages and genders

Disabled for random

Enjoy ♥

Download under the cut! (free, no ads)

⁺₊⋆ ☾ Patreon || CF ||💸 tip :  Payhip

@maxismatchccworld @mmoutfitters @emilyccfinds @coffee-cc-finds @public-ccfinds  

[zoetheneko]

Now that the new Avatar movie has been announced and that concept arts were dropped along with it, i will now throw on how these artwork on the new Na'vi tribe we'll be seeing may have confirmed my assumtions skin tone wise.

I took a sample of that one Fire Na'vi woman's skin tone (on the first image) as well as the Omaticaya and Metkayina clans' for comparision (i could be incorrect on the first two and if yes my bad i tried to pick up midtone colours).

I theorised to myself, with the little help of outside opinions, that the blue skin tone of these Na'vi would be a ashy/desaturated shade of blue. The sample i took resemble a dark blue gray (or it might be lighter because there's a bit of shadow on where i picked the colour), so this theory could be most likely be true.

[olderthannetfic]

I really dislike those "How to draw (insert poc)" and then it's a guide telling you DON'T EVER DRAW THESE FEATURES! And then they make a figure with those features and label it "Bad." But the features are normal fucking features, but they made them "extra bad" for the art in some way, maybe by making the skin tone really bad. (Ashy, too saturated, etc.) or by drawing the features in an ugly style.

Maybe if you, on purpose have to make something extra ridiculous and uglified to make a point, then those features aren't actually that ridiculous on a poc? Maybe you just don't like them or are focusing on a very small pool of features you prefer?

Or they completely go off the rails and freak out about artistic shit like "If you draw a black character with blonde (still coily) hair, you're whitewashing them and implying that white traits are more desirable." As if black people can't dye their hair, or straight for that matter... OR WIGS??? Or like "Poc are never this pale." and then just ignore that people can be super pale and still poc. Pale=/=White. You also get hair tutorial posts that will straight up say that the only hair type a black character should have is on the spectrum of complete coily, 4ABC, maybe at most 3C.

Many of these posts don't even consider mixed features, or they ignore varying features because they forgot that poc features exist across a spectrum, especially where a lot of travel happened. A lot of "How to draw Asian (features)" are really hyper focused on East Asian features, which makes the title a lie. How about labelling it "How to draw East Asian (features.)" instead. Then acknowledge that you're still only guiding for a very specific set of features in most cases. (The amount of times these guides have basically completely excluded SEA features, or in other ways said that those features don't exist in Asians. Come tf on.)

Then there's thing like completely misunderstanding undertones, so they completely remove that tone from the colorwheel. Yellow, purple, red, are undertones poc can have, you need to know how to use them, not say "They're racist, never use." Learn undertones, no, no one is bright purple, red or yellow, but you have undertones. That's also how color correcting make-up works, it's about the undertones and then you negate them; color theory. Black people can have purple or red undertone, but they're not "purple" 💜 or "red" 🟥(I question if these people have weird colors on their device, so they might not see it?) Maybe their drawing ends up good, but the advice some give can really handicap a lot of artists with a different method of coloring.

--

[danpuff-ao3]

SNARRY FOR BEGINNERS

Are you a bit Snarry curious, but also sorta wary and unsure where to start? Good news: I have some recs for you!

Snarry is a tricky ship for some folks. All of its most problematic themes are what draw me in personally, but that's not to say there aren't some safe places to start for a newcomer!

What I've chosen are:

Nothing too long, so you can get a little taste to see how you feel. So I'm looking at 50k or under.

Nothing "problematic" or as few "problematic" themes as I can get. No underage. No power imbalance. No consent issues. (...or at least nothing egregious haha.)

Works that also maintain some integrity to Harry and Severus' individual characters, and the tension between them. If I play it too safe it won't feel properly Snarry to me! Half the fun is the tension between them, so we must keep that!

So...If you wanna check some out, keep reading!

An Awkward Customer

by AnyaElizabeth. Rated: E. Words: 10,768. Postwar. EWE. Romance. Humor.

Snape can't figure out why Potter is hanging around his shop.

Why Read? A nice rom-com based on the prompt: "Harry makes a bet with someone that he could seduce anyone if he put his mind to it, and that someone selected for him is Snape, naturally." Severus owns an apothecary so we get some nice flirting at the workplace!

a scratch for every itch

by bleedcolor (@bleedcolor.) Rated: T. Words: 11,478. Fluff & humor. Magical maladies. Friends to idiots in love. Romance.

Severus Snape is an itch that Harry just can't scratch.

Why Read? Surely fluff is a safe place to start! And as a person who isn't often drawn to fluff, this is one I love, and is a comfort read of mine. Very sweet and silly and a great place to dip your toes in!

Dumbledore's Folly

by Dementordelta. Rated: M. Words: 47,446. Romance. Courtship. Oldie but a goodie!

Snape must court Harry according to wizarding traditions.

Why Read? I've reread this fic countless times over the years and it's still such a fun read. If you like arranged marriage/courtship fics, this is the one for you!

The Interrupted Kiss

by emynn. Rated: E. Words: 24,291. Postwar. Romance. Hurt/comfort. Mystery.

Once upon a time, Severus Snape shared a kiss with Harry Potter. Then Harry had disappeared after killing the Dark Lord, leaving Severus the reluctant darling of the Wizarding world. When Dumbledore insists on throwing a ball in Severus’s honour, Severus is convinced the world has gone completely mad. But when he comes across an ashy-faced young man whose half-answers about his identity haunt his every thought, Severus realizes that a ball might be the least of his worries.

Why Read? What safer place to start than a fairytale? If we ignore that most original fairytales are pretty effed up, actually. This is a Cinderella-inspired work. Severus is the Prince (naturally), and Harry is the wandmaker (cool career, right??) who attracts many cute animals! (He does not sing to them, though; what a shame!)

This Time of Ours

by emynn. Rated: E. Words: 35,442. Time travel. Hurt/comfort. Romance & drama.

Severus Snape wasn’t supposed to die. Neither was Harry Potter.

Why Read? Emynn has plenty of great Snarry fics, which is why you're getting 2 recs! We start with some fun snarking, move onto sweet bonding, and then...second chances! Very light, enjoyable read.

On the Deficencies of Translation Spells

by LilaDiurne (@liladiurne.) Rated: E. Words: 41,130. Getting together. Magical theory. Professor Potter & Professor Snape. Beaubatons. Pining. Light angst. Minor Harry/others.

Divorced, single, and free, Harry lives a completely unapologetic life in Paris. Between casual hook-ups and an easy, comfortable job, he likes to think he is as close to happiness as he'll ever be. And when he gets offered a teaching job at the prestigious Académie Beauxbâtons, he thinks he may have found exactly what was missing. But Harry is thoroughly unprepared for what he finds there - a familiar face that's been haunting his dreams for six years.

Why read? It's very Harry-centric. It's Harry's POV, and very about Harry and his journey as he moves to a new place, in a new phase of his life, and settles in. There's an existing connection and attraction between Harry and Severus, and one that unfolds so sensually and beautifully. Harry's very much an adult and mature and has lived a lot of life when he and Severus reunite.

Rapture

by mia_ugly (@mia-ugly.) Rated: E. Words: 48,123. Time travel. Romance.

Snape sees the man, for the first time, on his twenty-fifth birthday.

Why Read? It's a classic! It is very beloved in the community for good reason. Gorgeous writing. The relationship develops so naturally, and the pure emotion will knock your socks off. Potentially the best place to start for Snarry. I'm not a big fan of time travel, but I love this fic!

Revealed, Gently

by sarkysue. Rated: T. Words: 22,243. Postwar. Romance. Humor.

Snape isn’t dead, he’s back at Hogwarts and in need of an assistant. Coincidently, Harry is hanging around Hogwarts, reluctant to move on with his life. Cue sniping and snarking, tears and laughter and, possibly, love.

Why Read? It's fun. It's cute. It's a bit silly. It makes great use of how not easy it would be for these two, and having a blast with it! There is arguably a power imbalance what with Harry being Snape's teaching assistant, but it doesn't really feel like much of one. It's only a great opportunity to force these 2 to hang out long enough to fall in love!

The Sleeping Prince

by who_la_hoop. Rated: T. Words: 42,758. Postwar. Deaging. 8th year.

It's hard to ignore your past — and impossible to do so when you can't remember your future. But a meddlesome portrait, a dragon with an ancient grudge and true love's kiss teach an unlikely Prince that a regrettable past doesn't have to mean an unhappy ending.

Why Read? While probably the most questionable on the list, it's still fairly tame. Student Harry and his developing feelings for Student Severus, who is deaged postwar. It feels very much like a feel good teenage romance, wherein the characters very much act their age, awkwardness and all! The only caveat being things change a bit at the end, but there's no underage and it is rated Teen, to be fair!

The Beating of This Fragile Heart

by Writcraft (@writcraft.) Rated: E. Words: 33,146. Hurt/comfort. Fluff & angst. Serious Injury. Romance.

After the war, the last thing Severus Snape needs is the memory of a fleeting wartime kiss and a very persistent Harry Potter thwarting his plans to live a peaceful and solitary life. It’s only when Harry’s life is endangered that Severus is finally forced to confront his feelings head on.

Why Read? If you're coming from Drarry, you might be familiar with Writ's works! They've written plenty for drarry and some rare pair works, and they are a fantastic storyteller. This fic in particular is very romantic. Full of hesitancy and insecurity, and seeing how the relationship begins and how it unfolds and changes (for the better) when Severus is forced to deal with his issues. It's quite a journey but so full of love from start to finish and it's just so lovely and full of feels and one I return to again and again.

[gildingmist]

Isagi genius-prodigy theory

!!SLIGHT SPOILS!! Why I believe the key to Isagi reaching the spot of n1 striker bases itself on the balance between logical and creative thinking.

Sorry I’m not sure if anyone is interested in my yapping but I needed it written down somewhere. Some elements of it like the eye theory weren’t originally my idea but read off the internet :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rather than a story about how hard work beats talent, I’ve always considered blue lock a tale of how self belief and mentality remains above all the most important piece of the puzzle to reach success. Because blue lock is no blue period, it’s no ao ashi, it’s not supposed to be such a classic moral. That feels off.

After all, prodigies and geniuses aren’t a hierarchical order. They simply refer to two distinct categories, two schools of thought that stand neither above or beneath one another, those being logical thinking in prodigies and creative thinking in geniuses.

I’m basing myself off quite a few things here but I think the most important element remains Isagi’s light novel, where it a was clearly stated he used to be a genius as a child. It’s stated his playstyle was more focused on dribbling and way more like what we see in bachira today. And honestly?

Yeah, that makes sense. He’s got an innate ability he was born with and most others lack ad geniuses usually do, (his superhuman senses) and being a fan of Noel Noa from a very young age he already knew what an egoist was and consciously or not was applying that mentality to his playing. Even without details or realising, he already had a head start in how to make use of Ego’s theories.

Then, just like aiku he got hit by the fuck you don’t be selfish football beam and forced to play japanese football. And he went from beating five opponents in a row to score a goal with his noa imitation focused training to barely ever passing. He knows japanese football is wrong, and he’s never liked it, literally moments after joining ichiban and hearing their motto, his first reaction is "something’s wrong, isn’t it?"

Then blue lock came in, the rest is history. After forcing to play with such a focus on assist on so long, Isagi’s other capabilities had deteriorated, having to rely on the sole weapon he could always count on, his senses. Leaving behind technique and fancy playstyles to this develop this cut throat, direct playing would later develop into metavision, a weapon that has only been seen in prodigies due to its inherently logical nature. His other weapon, his direct shot, well it was pretty much the only thing he was allowed to keep while playing japanese football.

But that just doesn’t sit right, does it?

The one they called the "unbeatable striker of Saitama", his hometown, just worsening to the point even his own teammates believed his goal in the U20 was just fully, plainly, a total fluke that could never be reproduced? Just, forget everything?

His mother also says in the novel that "this child can see things that can’t be seen" and we know that can’t be metavision as metavision is just taking in information and analysing it faster than others, nothing to do with senses. But that’s just… never utilised? It seems strange not because it’s impossible of course, but because it’s mentioned. Why would this all be told, why would this be his backstory only for the author to be oh well! ;P Doesn’t matter cause he reset!

Also just the sole fact that like, a genius can turn into a prodigy is huge, because it means that those are not two strict categories you’re either born in or out, you can go from one to another.

And it’s not like Isagi really changed THAT much as a person. He’s no Sae, and from the sole fact arts are still his favorite subject and science his most hated, it’s clear he still has this firstly creative way of thinking and overall nature that just, fizzles out when it comes to football. (I’m not saying soccer). It can’t be all there is to it.

Isagi was also a very emotional and shy kid, described as timid and sensitive, which could emphasise that he relies more on his right brain than left brain, by instinct.

Now on another note, right and left motifs are quite prominent in blue lock. Right brain left brain motifs, logical vs creative. It’s a pattern.

It can also be taken notice off in the eye theory that takes notice that During ego heavy moments, usually the composition puts more focus on the right or left eye depending on wether the character is genius or prodigy. Credits to Yeti on tiktok for that one

This mostly applies to Rin and Isagi, (also happened when Isagi got his first metavision) sometimes for bachira, as for some other characters it’s just. Straight up the wrong eye during important shots or just not taken in account (ie; Niko’s signature poose where he circles his eye with his fingers, it’s his right eye when he isn’t a genius.) But it’s the right/left motif that I mean to take notice of here. And consequently, that if Isagi did turn out to become some genius-prodigy hybrid, it would be first foreshadowed through the panelling and composition, his right eye emphasized further at times.

This illustration. Their positioning is based on the ego chart, that’s the first thing I’ve noticed.

Isagi being freedom is very interesting to me as it does add to the whole genius thing, even if all geniuses aren’t freedom axed (ie, Rin.) It’s safe to assume the fourth person that should have been here is Shidou. But that’s not what I want to focus on with this, I digress.

Rather, Again, if we zoom into Isagi, we can see his right gun is gold and his left silver. While I first thought the silver was maybe for ego and the gold one for luck, due to it the puzzle piece’s colour, I think it makes a lot more sense for it to be representative of Isagi’s proficiency with each of his legs. His right foot being his dominant foot.

And now this might be the biggest reach yet and probably stupid but I do like to take notice of it.

Isagi’s dominant foot is his right. It’s the one he’s mot proficient with; and his left doesn’t even compare for most of the manga. The right side of the brain as prior stated is the creative one.

We also notice that over the duration of it, rather than better his shot and his proficiency with that leg, it’s rarely shown to be trained, and isagi doesn’t make a NOTABLE, conscious effort to, instead focusing on bettering his left leg with which he is a complete beginner, an attempt at making up for his flaws. That left leg could represent his logical playing whilst his right could represent the creative part of it all. He sets aside his originally stronger playstyle to focus on building up from zero the other, then reaching a state where both, at the same time and more specifically together qualify as a weapon, his two gun volley.

This could just show his playstyle evolution as a whole from now on, and how despite having been a genius all these years, he left it behind to instead focus on getting his logical mind up to the task, despite starting back to square 1, wether it be conscious or not.

Let’s not forget that Isagi’s weapon is most of all, not his metavision, not his senses, not his direct shot- but his adaptability. And when he reached the big league where practically everyone has metavision (that’s already happening. Reo, karasu, aiku, niko. It’s a damn lot already), crazy physics, and more than a few other weapons?

Yeah, the occasional omnivision trigger isn’t going to be nearly enough at pro levels.

He wants to take the world cup from Noa. And that seems to be the expected climax of the manga. Noa doesn’t play U20, so we have at least 3 arcs or so before reaching that. This isn’t dragon ball, the same weapons can’t keep evolving all in the same direction forever and in so, and even then I struggle to see how much further metavision could expand. So in what other way could his adaptibility develop than in learning the trade of the opposition? Hold your friends close and your enemies closer seems like a very blue lock-esque philosophy. I believe his freedom and his world style ego will permit him to go beyond the label of either genius past or prodigy present, and help him rise above Noa as n1 striker.

Which brings us to my next point:

Geniuses on one side, prodigies on the other, and between that Noa and Ego.

I don’t think Ego’s playstyle is in between prodigy and geniuses, he does seem more prodigy than anything even if he didn’t manage to stay in the field long enough to fully flesh out his playing style as he retired way early, but his placement is obviously to mirror Noa’s own. A pesky shadow of the past he can never quite get out of his head (average situationship) as demonstrated by the fact he still remembers word by word Ego’s theories a decade later when asking Isagi to explain how he views football. But that’s just Ego’s case. What about Noel Noa?

Well, Noa is a logic axed genius.

In playstyle alone he is by all means a prodigy, prioritising logic, efficiency and winning over theatrics. That’s quite literally Bastard München’s whole philosophy. He is a rational man in nature. And that very much shows in his plays. His trainees are also prodigies.

And yet he’s categorised as a genius. And that is thanks to his physicality. His talent is that he’s ambidextrous, it’s something he’s born with that others lack. His dribbling also seems very dangerous, something that is mostly seen in geniuses like Bachira and Laviño, even if Noa seems to believe the latter is better at it than he is.

In a way, the reason that seems to indicate Noa is the best striker, is his ability to balance genius and prodigious mentalities and ideologies and to utilise it to score. He is what we’ve seen closest to what a genius prodigy might be, and in result is the best striker in the verse.

And how do we relate that to Isagi?

Well he’s pretty much in the same boat. Born with capabilities that other lacks, he still is undoubtedly a prodigy by his plays and the fact he doesn’t utilise his senses as other geniuses utilise their talents. And that’s his fundamental flaw as well as the last puzzle piece to reach world level.

But despite that, there is one glaring thing with this illustration, Noa’s throne is made of glass, it’s fragile- and being logical with an extra weapon is not enough for him to let down his guard. Isagi would need to go above and beyond, and that’s why I think instead of just being a genius that plays logically, Isagi needs to be both in balance; stability being the key to turn the glass throne into one of it’s own right. Why mindsets are in the end the most dangerous weapons in blue lock, and what Isagi will need to figure out through the world cup to finally dethrone the man that does not even view him as rightful rival.

Then again I’m like stupid and this post is written weird so don’t take anything I say too seriously lol

[mooneytried]

Doodles i did during my flight 2day :D

1. Tasie!! Jeez color theory is insane bc why did her skinton look so ashy before anyways I adjusted it!!

2. Tasie and Crist at the age they were adopted (14 and 10)

3. ACOCR Copperright family!! Tasie and Crist were adopted much earlier in the AU

[waeirfaahl]

The design of the cursed Ashi issue

Let's compare the designs of all characters, who were infected by Aku's blood. Jack in 4 episode of 4 season.

Jack's allies in 10 episode of 5 season had similar traits — animalistic copies of Aku. Moreover, they got infected with even more Aku's blood than Jack, so, yes, they are not alive anymore.

Like, they even merged with Aku in the next scenes. So, they are dead. From another side, pretty weird that Jack wasn't infected by his blood again during his attempt to free Ashi. But what we have with Ashi, who was infected by his blood too, but inside her mother's womb? She for some reason has different design.

And it is not the case with the design of the lambs from 7 episode of 5 season (their early design was much better, as well as presentation of the scene). She looks the same in animatic version.

Plus, her design in the cursed form is incredibly similar to the blind archers' design.

Like, really. And although I earlier discussed about the huge contradiction between the classic seasons and 5 season, in every version of events you choose, the archers weren't infected by Aku's blood. They were under the spell of either the wishing well (in the classic seasons) or Aku (in 5 season).

So, Ashi was cursed by her mother since embryo stage, while Aku just activated the spell and hence the infection or what? I mean, there's no acts and movements with own blood and/or remains of the black essense he did in "Birth of Evil" and in "The Ultra-Robots" episode, for example. He just makes this white eye shining he did toward the lambs in 7 episode of 5 season.

Same in animatic.

In the classic seasons his eyes had this white glowing, when he awakened zombies and moved the twig.

[sevenpoyo]

school headcanons for because i only got 3 more weeks

margo’s is so long even tho she got like 2 minutes of screen time bc i love her so much and she’s my gf

Margo Kess, 1610Miles, 42Miles, Gwen Stacy, Pavitr Prabhakar

margo kess / spiderbyte

ain’t shorty on zoom in the movie?

my girl dont attend class, she once shut down the entire blocks power so she would have an excuse to not be in class

eats in class all class everyday, only shares with you

takes really good notes and never studies them

like???? ma’am??? share???

all her electives are programming related and she pretends to busy while playing centipede all day

sends you 50 links to stuff you might like while ur in math

she got papers that let her opt out of gym

no matter how much you beg ur gonna be alone in gym and she doesn’t feel bad about it

popular with no friends type

like everyday 50 ppl stop you both and say hi

she only knows like 5 of their names she can’t stand half of them niggas

empty ass backpack like she got one notebook and one binder

all a’s and b’s like bitch how

her memory is absolutely ass but she can remember every story you told her or stuff that happened when y’all hang out

don’t ask her what she did in her class

don’t ask her if her class also has a history test

she don’t know

she don’t care

but she do know that when you were 8 your cousin burned ur thigh while y’all were playing iron vs knife fight

(u were dumb as hell for picking knife everyone knows iron always wins)

i looked it up on her word everybody uses those virtual avatars

she’ll shit on your class choices so damn hard

she just likes making fun of your choices fr

like half of ur conversation go;

damn i’m tired

u was up doing stupid shit last night you don’t get to complain

stfu that’s why ur a bitmoji

that’s why ur granny beat ur ass for something your brother did when you were 9

i hate telling u shit

then stop telling me shit

(i have no clue how accurate this is to her character but i need to write about her i’m in love but damn it’s long)

1610 miles / spider-man 2 lmao

book bag full locker full but never has a pencil

writes notes assignments and homework in paint pen ink don’t ask this nigga for notes

(he gets nigga treatment but not my queen margo bc i got favorites)

he miss mad classes but somehow still solid attendance record???

somehow always present in the record he miss 40 days and get caught on like 6 of them

unless his mom make breakfast and lunch on her day off for him he eating the most random shit from the bodega closest to visions

like what do you mean you got a cosmic brownie and a cold chopped cheese from last night ? it’s literally 7 in the morning no i don’t want none

makes you hype him up every time he slap boxes people and he’s so ass at it

he be ashy with no lotion atleast 5 times every month it’s embarrassing

he calls visions his white people school to his parents and his friends

once he said it to gwen and they sat in literal complete silence for like 10 minutes

prolly took music theory because he thought it would be easy and switched out of that shit so fast

i’d be so mean to him for enjoying physics

like this nigga trying to make something of him self

lil einstein ass nigga

he understands color theory but can’t explain it

12 half full sketchbooks but at school he literally draw on computer paper he don’t let the sketch book leave his bag

i know he’s ass at watercolor, he always spills shit, the colors always end up brown

try’s to be interested in your class choices bc he wants to know stuff he can talk about with you

when you first meet he can’t take meaner jokes bc he thinks that you mean them

but one day he’s gets comfortable, and brutal

no one in your life is safe when he looses a video game

except your mom

rio taught him better than that

42 miles / the prowler

comes to school with no school related supplies in his bag unless you count art stuff

finds a pencil on his way to class

has a change of clothes, rat tail comb, 3 bottles of water, a camera, a flashlight, lotion and cocoa butter.

like bro ur going to Ap Art not a camping trip

once he pulled out a griddle and and pancake mix and y’all started making pancakes in class

forgets his metro pass every day and gets so pissed ab it

runs into people in the hallway bc he’s never paying attention

idk if he goes to visions but if he does he calls it his white people school with his full chest to anybody even if they’re white

he be leaving halfway through the day all the time like bro you miss algebra 2 every damn day

uncle arron always talking him out of school with some bullshit reason

bro’s had his tonsils out 8 times on the school’s records

He will get ur parents to put his uncle on ur pickup list and you will be out of there with him

he will YELL if someone step on his shoes no matter what the situation like the school could be on fire and he fighting in the burning building

also his uniform is so pristine

his pants stiff

that button down is bleached ironed pressed and allat

this mfer is an online shopping addict u just know he be on amazon in class

will offer you the weirdest food combos like no i don’t want to put tajin mangoes on my beef patty i’m sick of you nigga

not school related but he’s super good with kids (both miles fr) but he’s the #1 little cousin defender and apologists

he ride for them always one of ur little cousins could sucker punch u and he be like

‘they just want u to play with them’

he takes a preforming arts class for fun prolly

loves sports but doesn’t play one understands the stats well and would help if you played one

wakes up at the asscrack of dawn on weekends

SICK ASS COSTUME FOR HOLLOWEEN IK THIS NIGGA LOVE HOLLOWEEN

plans costumes for school spirit weeks but always checks to seen if he’s gonna be the only one wearing a costume for it

never eats lunch unless his mom makes it he be hungry all day and be complaining

his socks are never in uniform (yes some uniform schools have sock rules)

gwen stacy / spider woman / ghost spider

idk what to call her

she has every snack you could ever want in her lunch bag

hates her music theory teacher

she literally has the most pristine locker with a calendar and a mirror and all that shit will write down test for you and important dates for the both of you

goes to school plays and shits on the story, like she ain’t pay 5 dollars to be there

some of her teachers hate her

like ma’am ur beefing with a whole 16 year old rn

she hate english teachers but love creative writing teachers

she keeps all her books in her locker never brings them home never brings them to class

always comes through with an extra pad no matter what

she also always has hand sanitizer

in like 4 extracurricular after school things and complains so bad

ur starting to hate that shit to ur sick of hearing it like girl quit then

10/10 cameraman she has every fight and every drama in 10khd and she will share them if you ask

she chews her pens and nails

has her drumsticks out always teachers have banned her from taking them to their classes

can watch tv on her phone but look focused you think she’s paying attention but then you look over and she’s watching good luck charlie

pavitr prabhakar / spider-man india

always late for class never in trouble

always eating and sharing food and never in trouble

how is he blessed like this? it ain’t fair

eats from the school vending machines or begs other ppl to share

will always have and share the homework answers no matter what he’s an angel

his sock always have holes in them like sir please get that shit together

gym try hard ik goes insane in football/soccer

very encouraging for shit u don’t wanna do he believes in you

you him and Gayatri talk so much shit but are somehow all well liked

he tells you what teachers are dating (he can just tell)

he has toothpaste in his bag for some reason?? i can just feel this one

his aunt will let you come over after school she’s so sweet to you.

always got a job at school assemblies

he’s reading poems or shaking hand or leading in the school pledge or something

Pav’s is short because i have no fucking clue if school in India is different form america and Barbados

[touchlikethesun]

i’ve been thinking about haikyuu name meanings again, so i thought i’d share two of the name meanings that make me smile a lot :)))

木　boku - tree 兎　to - rabbit (?) 光　kou - shining, glory, pride 太郎　tarou - “great” son or first son 赤　aka - red, communism (??) 葦　ashi - reed (?) 京　kei - ten quadrillion; other readings (kyou, tokyo), capital city 治　ji - govern, regulate

so i’ve purposefully kept the direct kanji meanings, even tho most of them are simple and/or non sensical when applied to bokuto and akaashi’s character. but i've done so to replicate my own confusion and (hopefully) eventual satisfaction when i’d worked tho the many layers of word play.

so the first character of bokuto’s name 木 (tree) i originally thought was supposed to tie him to owls, yknow bc owls are often sitting in trees, and that might be part of it, but when 木 is used in adjectival constructions (so instead of ‘tree’ it might mean more ‘wooden’) and applied to people it often carries pejorative connotations of stupidity, close to the english ‘blockheaded’ - which i have to admit. did make me chuckle. (note: i thought there might be some connection between boku and boke the insult kags is always launching at hinata but they seem to be unrelated go figure)

兎 (to) was another confusing one, since ordinarily 兎 is the character for usagi (rabit), but when read as to there didn't seem to be any real mean associated with it, which is funny because most of the names in hq!! have more thought put into them then that. i was just about to write it off, when i looked up the two kanji together on wiktionary and-

木兎　mimizuko - alt. spelling for eagle/horned owl

see above: eagle owl and bokuto koutarou for comparaison.

so basically in bokuto's name there is both a pun calling him a bit thick and a pun with the type of owl that inspired him how fucking incredible is that??? i personally love it

光太郎 (koutarou) seems to be a bit more of a traditional name, and we also have a very clear in-universe explanation for it's meaning. bokuto is the youngest of three with two older sisters, and it seems mr and mrs bokuto were very proud to finally have a son (ehhh patriarchy sucks sorry it is what it is) and wanted to give him a name that reflected their feelings. however, i do also think that 光 can also be taken to represent bokuto's presence in the series as a whole.

the first meaning of 光 being 'shining' obviously makes me think of the most bokuaka line in all of canon "we are the stars of the world" (ik some translations use protagonists in place of stars but shhh i'm being symbolic plus the vers i read used "stars"), because bokuto is such a star, he shines so brightly, and motivates so many people (the least of whom being akaashi and the rest of fukurodani). bokuto was always destined for glory and stardom in volleyball, but i think he's also just. so bright of a person. like yes, ofc he has his moods and his caprices, but that doesn't change how much he just, well, shines, brightens up a room. i don't know how much of this was intentional or accidental, but i like it.

~

like with bokuto's name, i ran into a bit of trouble with 赤葦 (akaashi) at first. literally, it means red reed, which didn't really seem significant. although 赤 (aka) also means 'red' as in 'communist' so now even tho it is certainly not at all the intended meaning i now and forever will headcanon akaashi as being a communist or someone at the very least well versed in communist theory. however, like with bokuto, akaashi's name is actually a reference to アカアシフクロウ (akaashi-fukuro) or アカアシモリフクロウ (akaashi-mori-fukuro), so another type of owl

i've already talked about what i find so amusing about 京治 (keiji) in this post, but to summarise here (actually maybe this counts as an expansion?), the most relevant part to akaashi's character is the second kanji 治, meaning to govern or to regulate. 治 is sometimes used on it's own, but it is also often used in compounds related to peace, healing, (and politics, my commie akaashi headcanon wins again hahaha).

i think akaashi's character evolves from what it was intended to be, and i'm not sure how accurate this meaning is by the time we reach the end of canon (or maybe i've just been reading to much bokuaka fic and it's skewing my perception of him), but akaashi started out a bit like bokuto's external emotional regulator. for someone with as insane mood swings as bokuto, mood swings that other people struggled to understand and react to, he must have had quite a hard time, and indeed we're shown that his difficulties managing his emotions seriously and negatively affects his performance on the court. enter akaashi. akaashi, who through careful observation, quickly learns to not just react to bokuto's mood swings, but to understand them, their causes, and even eventually to anticipate them, effectively giving bokuto the tools he needs to learn to control his emotions and continue giving his all like akaashi knows he can.

i think it's relevant that 治 is also used to talk about healing and peace, (and not just governing which has rather unfortunate implications of control and coercion that i don't particularly like) because that is what akaashi's presence in bokuto's life ultimately provides, as evidenced by bokuto's growth by the end of the series ("hey look guys i'm just a normal ace!" meaning he's learned to manage his emotions by himself, something that i think would have been a much longer and harder journey without akaashi's influence).

when i said i'm not sure how accurate 治 is when applied to akaashi's character by the end of the series, i mean that i think it downplays the reciprocal nature of bokuto and akaashi's relationship, because for as much as akaashi helps bokuto manage his mood swings, bokuto also provides a lot of emotional support and motivation to akaashi. and i'm not sure this was something that furudate had already taken into account when first coming up with these characters.

i think there might be smaller symbolic meaning relating to akaashi's position as a setter, but that's really only a minor detail i think...

anyways, there you have it! bokuaka kanji meanings and thoughts!! do let me know if you have different interpretations, or if i've missed something, i really really reallyyyyy like talking about things like this but for now brb i am going to go read like a dozen bokuaka oneshots xx

[crypt-tids]

A Gift Unto the King

CW: illness, nausea, fainting, pregnancy loss, abortion discussion, medical procedure

25

In Sickness

Carmilla awoke to the cold chill of the hard, wood floor against her dewy skin. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest, pulsing rapidly through her temple. She tried to collect herself, but her vision was blurred and doubled. With a series of hasty blinks, it slowly returned to its proper focus—a process that took a bit longer than she cared for. Cautiously, she shuffled her arm to prop herself up, peeling her sweat-stuck cheek away from the floorboards. Her skull rattled with painful throbs, the ringing in her ears nearly deafening. She felt lost and disoriented, panic threading through her as she tried to bring herself out of the fainting spell. Taking a few deep, calming breaths, the ringing grew dull and began to subside. With more force, she pushed herself up further, grunting from the strain on her groggy body. Carmilla’s arm shook beneath her slightly, a fierce aura piercing through her eyes as a sharp pain ricocheted through her skull. Instinctively, she pressed the heel of her palm against her forehead, letting out a harsh hiss.

Once the pain had lessened into a more tolerable ache, she glanced around through squinted eyes, finding herself alone in her chambers, uncertain of exactly how much time had elapsed in her involuntary absence. Drawing a deep breath, she pushed herself up from the floor, another sharp throb plunging into her forehead.

“Nn-” She squoze her eyes shut, keeping them clenched until she’d firmly righted herself. Lightheaded, she attempted to stand still, her body wobbling as her equilibrium stabilized. She had half a mind to grip the bed, lest the dizziness force her to the ground again, at least then she’d know where she’d land.

“Your highness?” A small, muffled, voice spoke through the closed chamber door, following a soft knock.

“Y-yes,” Carmilla grunted, opening her eyes, and pushing her body upright from the mattress, “come in.”

The door clicked against the squeaking hinges as it swung open. A small framed woman quickly slipped into the room, shutting the door firmly behind her. The ginger-haired maid glanced towards the queen, her eyes finding Carmilla in a dreadful state—something she had grown accustomed to in the passing weeks, though this time seemed to be the worst of it.

“Your highness, are you alright?” Aoife asked, her voice calm, but laden with concern.

“Mm.” Carmilla forced through a brief wave of nausea, “I’m fine, thank you.”

The queen felt a gentle hand squeeze her arm, and she glanced over to meet the hazel gaze of her maid, who’s brows had now upturned, forming a strong crease over the bridge of her nose.

“You look quite unwell, your highness.”

“More than usual?” Carmilla joked lightly, however, Aoife didn’t find the humor in it.

She did look more unwell than usual. Far more unwell. Her ashy skin glistened with sweat, her coils matting down against her damp forehead. The pale colored chemise no longer loosely draped over her body, but rather clung to it heavily, sticking to her chest and thighs. Aoife detected a slight tremble in the queen’s limbs, and she couldn’t be certain, but she felt a touch feverish.

“Please, sit down, I will get you some water.” The ginger guided the elf towards the chair, gripping her firmly as she lowered her into it.

Carmilla’s forehead felt dewy and her heart raced uncomfortably. The waves of nausea would ebb and flow, though thankfully not growing any further than a severe annoyance. Her head still furiously ached, and she wondered if perhaps she had hit it on the floor when she’d fainted, a theory confirmed by the tender soreness of her temple when her fingers lightly brushed across it.

Aoife held out a glass of fresh water to the queen, which she graciously accepted, before taking a cautious sip. The cool water settled in her stomach, a shiver running up her spine. Carmilla’s body jolted with tight trembles as her unease whittled away at her.

As her coils bounced aside, Aoife noticed an irritated, red mark near her temple, appearing a bit like a small scuff. Leaning down, she impulsively brushed the curls aside to get a better look. It wasn’t until Carmilla jerked away that she had realized she’d acted improperly.

“My apologies, your highness.” Aoife spoke timidly, pulling herself back.

Carmilla shrunk, letting out a long sigh.

“It’s fine.” The elf replied breathily.

“You hit your head.” Aoife persisted, her voice cautious.

“I’m fine.” Carmilla returned flatly.

“Your majesty, I-”

“I’m fine.” The queen shot sharply, taking the young maid by surprise.

Aoife stood silently, her worried eyes still fixed on the queen, but daring not to speak any further. Carmilla took another sip of water, shuddering as it settled into her nauseous stomach.

Glancing up, Carmilla’s eyes met Aoife’s—glossy green, shadowed by furrowed, ginger brows. Her cheeks were flushed light pink against her pale, freckled skin. Anxiously, she gnawed at her lower lip, now red and chapped.

The elf extended her hand towards Aoife. With a moment’s hesitation, the maid placed her hand in Carmilla’s, the warmth of her touch radiating up her arm, into her fluttering chest.

“I appreciate your concern, but please,” Carmilla gave Aoife’s hand a gentle squeeze, “do not worry too much. I promise, I’m fine.” She gave a soft smile that she hoped would look more convincing than it felt.

“It’s my job to worry about you, your highness.” Aoife stated calmly.

“I know.” Carmilla sighed. “But I assure you, there is nothing to worry about.”

Aoife frowned, and Carmilla shifted subjects.

“Help me get ready, yes? I think I would like to stroll through the garden today.” Though she most certainly did not feel in any right state to be strolling anywhere, she had hoped that Aoife’s anxiety would be eased by the idea of it.

Nodding, the ginger woman guided the queen to her feet, gathered her clothes, and helped her slip them on. The bodice of her dress fit snugly over her middle, despite her thin frame, and Aoife made an effort to loosen the laces down her back to compensate. Her fingers brushed over the wrinkles and folds of the fabric, smoothing them out. Grabbing a pair of gem adorned, leather shoes, she carefully slid them onto Carmilla’s feet, securing the laces around her slender ankle. Aoife couldn’t help but notice how sharp and angular her body had become. The softened roundness of her form had all but disappeared in the wake of her violent morning sickness, and the sight of this drastic change only made the young maid grow more concerned.

Once properly fitted, Aoife returned to her feet, draping a long cloak over her shoulders, and securely tying it in place. She reached up to tame a few wild coils, then stood back, hands tightly clasped in front of her.

“You look lovely, your highness.” The ginger woman spoke softly.

Carmilla smiled warmly.

“Would you care to escort me to the garden?” Asked the queen, extending a hand towards Aoife.

With an agreeing nod, the maid took her outstretched hand, and led her to the garden.

The air carried a crisp chill, but not overly unpleasant. Most of the leaves had turned by now, the distant mountains covered in brilliant yellows and fiery reds. Despite the changing of the seasons, the enchanted garden remained unphased, blooming even still as though it were freshly spring. The sweet scent of peonies wafted strongly on the breeze.

“Lovely, isn’t it?” Carmilla broke the silence, her voice light.

“It is.” Aoife agreed, her eyes fixed on Carmilla.

The corners of her cherry lips upturned into a soft smile, and her eyes dazzled brilliantly in the midday sun. Everything about her glowed so warmly here in the garden, as though it was where she belonged—as if she were a part of it. The radiance of Carmilla’s aura extended well beyond her, and Aoife found it difficult to look away.

She watched as the elf lowered herself to the ground, kneeling in the dirt, before a large rose bush. Then, she noticed, Carmilla’s smile begin to fade.

“What is it, your majesty?” Aoife asked, lowering herself down beside the queen.

“Elvenwood had such beautiful roses.” She quietly replied, her fingers lightly brushing over the petals of a freshly unfurled flower.

“I’ve heard that Elvenwood is quite lovely.”

“It is.” Carmilla confirmed with a sigh. “On the outside, at least.”

“Do you miss it?” Aoife spoke sincerely.

“That depends.” Carmilla replied, her face scrunching for a brief moment as she thought, before finally continuing with a melancholic tone. “I miss its beauty.”

“Only its beauty?” The young maid inquired.

“It’s complicated, I suppose.” Carmilla huffed through her nose. “You know that feeling of missing something because it was all you knew, but growing to realize how utterly wrong so much of it was?” The queen’s eyes shifted towards the ginger, a dewy shimmer at their corners.

Aoife’s brows upturned, a small frown tugging at the edges of her mouth, but she didn’t speak.

Carmilla’s eyes fell to the flowers before her, gently bobbing in the breeze. Shoulders drooped, she curled her fingers around the fabric of her dress, pressing her palms firmly against her thighs.

“I had to put up with so much, without ever being granted a place to speak my mind.” The elf shook her head lightly, her ringlets bobbing against her jaw. “Not a single decision in my life was one that I, myself, had made. I was ordered to do as I was told, and never go against my family’s wishes—that their will was for the best, even if I couldn’t see it.”

Aoife watched the queen shrink into herself. She felt herself leaning towards her, as if the diminishing energy around Carmilla was somehow pulling her closer.

“I held my tongue, even when I desperately wished not to. I agreed to every plan and order they placed upon me.” Carmilla’s voice began to tremble as her tone elevated. “I allowed myself to be shipped off to a foreign land because it was in the best interest of my country, and I promised an elven heir to the house of Valke because my father willed it!” She spat sharply, ripping a rose from the bush and crushing it in her fist, Aoife flinching in surprise. With a huff, Carmilla settled the aggravated twitching of her lip, letting the tension slowly leave her body, as she released the crumpled petals from her palm. “Not marrying the king was the only decision I have ever made for myself, and it’s one that doesn’t even matter.”

“I think…” Aoife added cautiously, “that you’re wrong, your highness.”

Carmilla glanced up at the fiery haired woman, the breeze gently tussling her loose curls. Sunlight shimmered against her freckled skin, casting a pale glow around her, soft and warm.

“I think that decision mattered more than anything.” Aoife finished with a modest smile.

“How?” Carmilla asked, straightening her posture, wincing from a small pain in her side. “Marriage matters little when we are still bound by a forged bloodline.” Her voice shook slightly, distress still heavily lining her face.

“Perhaps… and, forgive me if I overstep, but… by refusing to wed, you established yourself as, well, you. A person, and not a pawn. It may not seem like much, your highness, but truly, it is everything.”

Carmilla’s chin quivered for a quick moment, before giving a small smile.

“Do you really think that my decision…” She forced down a wave of nausea, “mattered that much?”

Aoife leaned closer, despite every fiber of her being telling her to clam up, and act properly. Her hand shuffled over the dirt, brushing against small blades of grass and weeds. She could hardly stop herself. The radiant, glowing aura of the queen tugged at her, drawing her in, even in such a dreadful state.

Stop yourself, for the love of all things, stop yourself! But her heart, already pounding loud enough to hear, wouldn’t listen.

“I do.” Aoife replied, her voice hardly more than a shaken whisper.

“I hope you’re right.” Carmilla returned, her words brushing against Aoife’s lips.

Her heart pounded furiously in her chest, a mixture of excited nerves and exhaustion competing desperately within her. Aoife’s hand slipped closer, their fingertips nearly touching. So dreadfully she wished to close the gap, but her body fought against it. Carmilla felt cold sweat dampen her body, nausea catching in her throat. Aches plunged through her back and sides, her vision beginning to tunnel.

Suddenly, a sharp pain ripped through Carmilla’s abdomen, buckling her over. She hissed, drawing a staggered breath, clutching her stomach. Hazy, black clouds crept over her eyes, pulsing with her heartbeat.

“Carmilla?!” Aoife lunged forward, catching the queen in her arms. “What’s wrong?!”

“Hah- nngh!” Carmilla grunted, sweat rolling down her temples.

“Carmilla!” The maid pulled the elf close, her tone becoming increasingly more panicked as her heart pounded furiously in her chest. “HELP! SOMEONE, PLEASE! HELP!”

Carmilla’s body trembled, hot acid burning in her throat. Cold chills ran over her limbs, her palms clammy and tingling. She could hear Aoife’s frantic calls growing faint in her mind as the blackness consumed her and she slowly lost consciousness.

Vin paced the length of the solar, his fingers mindlessly stroking his chin as he thought. Lucas sat in the chair by the window, his hand resting delicately over his middle. The werewolf’s eyes followed the king closely.

“Is it possible we’re overthinking it?” Lucas asked with a sigh.

“Or we aren’t thinking enough.” Vin returned.

“I doubt that highly.”

“If you have any ideas, I’m all ears.” Vin leaned against the wall, his arms folded and ankles crossed.

Lucas clicked his tongue, before nibbling his lower lip. The baby fluttered softly, and he lightly drummed his fingers over his belly in response, catching Vin’s eye.

“They are just humans-”

“Which many of our citizens are.” Vin added.

“Right,” Lucas continued, “but, I mean, by comparison, curse-borns have the advantage of strength, and elves… well, they’re just assholes all around.”

“Not completely unfounded.” The vampire jokingly confirmed with a nod.

Lucas sighed, awkwardly pushing himself up from the chair, earning a small giggle from his husband to be. Once fully upright, he pressed a hand to his lower back, hoping to ease some of the soreness residing there to little avail.

“Vin, there hasn’t been an attack in over a month. You’ve secured our border, and Elvenwood has secured their’s. Your plan is working.”

“What if it stops working?” Vin interjected.

“Then we’ll deal with it.” Lucas stepped towards the king, his fingers reaching towards Vin’s tightly folded arms. “Recruitment has been going well and so has training. We’ll be ready for anything that comes our way, I know it.”

Vin shook his head, resting his hand over the werewolf’s, lightly stroking his knuckles with his thumb.

“I’m just a little on edge. I don’t trust the silence.”

“I know.” Lucas agreed on a long exhale. “But what else are we supposed to do? If we rush in, we risk losing every advantage we are working so diligently to build.”

Vin huffed through his nose, sharply.

“I’m not suggesting we be reckless.”

“Of course not.” Lucas replied.

Vin let his arms unfold, leaning his body towards Lucas, resting his head against the muscular man’s shoulder.

“I just want to put this war behind us.” Vin mumbled, wrapping his arms around the large man.

“I do, too.” Lucas spoke softly, “But, all things in their own time.”

Vin slid his head off of Lucas’s shoulder, his eyes wandering up to meet the lycan’s golden gaze. A reassuring smile graced his stubbled face, warm sunlight casting a radiant halo around him.

“I wish this war hadn’t had to happen in our time.” Vin spoke defeatedly.

“As do I.” The lycan agreed. “As does everyone faced with such hardships.” He gently pushed a strand of hair behind Vin’s ear. “But it did, and all we can do is get through it. Ideally, in one piece.” Lucas joked to lighten the mood.

“Yeah…” The vampire replied mindlessly, his hands sliding over the sides of Lucas’s rounded belly, and resting there.

His mind drifted, and Lucas quickly noticed the growing distance. The king’s brows creased as his crimson eyes remained fixed on the swell in his grasp. A tiny flutter bumped against his palm, but Vin didn’t smile like Lucas had expected him to, and he suddenly understood the real reason his lover was so on edge.

“We’ll be okay, you know.” Lucas broke the silence, snapping Vin from his daze. “I promise.”

“I want to meet him.” Vin whispered with a crack. “I want to watch him grow up. I need to be able to do that.”

“You will, Vin. I’ll make sure of it.”

“How?” Vin huffed incredulously. “I don’t think will and prayer will be enough to keep me alive out there.”

“No,” Lucas returned, confidently, “but I will be.”

Vin snapped his gaze to Lucas’s face, his brows furrowed tensely. Crimson eyes flashed as the vampire pieced together his lover’s implication.

“No.” The king snapped. “Lucas, no.”

“If you think I’m letting you run into battle without me, you’re sorely mistaken-”

“You’re pregnant!”

“And in a few months, I won’t be!”

The pair fell silent, the only sound, their huffy breaths. Vin clenched his jaw, and Lucas studied him warily, waiting for his lover to speak. Finally, the vampire let out a sigh, his features softening, despite his aura still maintaining a disapproving intensity.

“Even if this war doesn’t progress until after our child’s arrival, you’ll still need time to heal and rest.” Vin’s voice was flat and matter-of-fact.

“And I will.” Lucas pressed. “But I’m not going to sit around being useless-”

“You will do as you’re told!” Vin spat with a harshness that he hadn’t entirely intended.

Lucas jolted, his body retreating slightly. Vin hadn’t spoken to him that way in a long time, and it made him feel small and inconsequential—like he was nothing. Vin, regretting his outburst immediately, reached out to grab his lover’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Please, Lucas,” the vampire begged, “please don’t follow me into battle so blindly.”

“It’s my job-”

“Your job is to raise our son—to ensure that he still has at least one father at the end of this.”

“If I go with you, he will have both-”

“Or he will lose both.” Vin interjected sternly.

Lucas did not reply at first, instead, stewing in the hypothetical torment of his mind’s making. After a few moments, he pushed those dreadful thoughts aside, and opened his mouth to speak.

“Why do you sound so committed to dying in this war?”

“I’m not!” Vin retorted. “But there is an entire nation that wants to serve my head up on a silver platter to its king! Forgive me for being realistic.”

“Your highness-” A voice rang out from the doorway.

“What?!” Vin snapped unconsciously, turning his gaze to the intruder.

“P-pardon the intrusion, but, it’s the queen. Queen Carmilla has taken ill, she’s in the infirmary.” An older maid, with frizzy gray hair, rushed out, her voice shaken and uneasy.

Lucas and Vin exchanged worried glances, the tension of their previous disagreement rapidly disappearing. With hardly a thought, the pair took off after the maid, tailing her down the hall. Vin’s heart pounded in his ears as his mind raced, each foot falling faster than the last. He hadn’t even noticed that Lucas and the maid had fallen behind as he soared into the lead by a considerable distance.

Please, be okay! For the love of the gods, PLEASE BE OKAY!

Footsteps pounded loudly against the wood floor, thumping down the stairs, and clacking against the tile towards the infirmary. A small congregation of people had collected outside of the door, daring not to press through. As the king approached, they quickly cleared a path for him to enter.

Gasping for breath, Vin was met with the sight of a panicked Aoife, clasping Carmilla’s hand firmly, while the sibling healers raced around collecting supplies. Bowls, linen towels, fresh water, all set purposefully on the table to the side of the bed. Angelique hastily placed a jar of herbs and a pair of forceps down on the tabletop beside them, turning just in time to relieve the maid behind her of a freshly heated tea kettle.

“What’s going on? Is she alright?” Vin asked frantically, his eyes darting between the unconscious Carmilla, and Angelique, who now appeared to be brewing some kind of tea with the herbs from the jar.

Alistair skirted around the infirmary bed, rushing towards Vin. Quickly, he pulled the king’s attention, his face firmly set and unemotional, putting Vin further on edge.

“We need to make a decision quickly, your highness.” Alistair’s voice was low.

“What’s going on, what’s wrong with her?” Vin peeked at the queen over Alistair’s shoulder, his brows threatening to merge with the bridge of his nose.

“Her body… it’s failing.” Alistair stated with a hushed softness that he hoped wouldn’t carry into the hall.

“Failing? Y-you mean, what, she’s dying?” Vin’s heart thumped in his throat, his voice cracking.

“Yes.” Alistair confirmed quickly. “Our options are limited, as is our time. If we’re going to save the child, we need to act swiftly and precisely.” He explained.

“What about Carmilla? Will she be alright?”

“If we’re successful.”

“And if you aren’t?”

“They both die.” Alistair somberly answered on a breathy exhale.

Vin glanced back and forth between Carmilla and Alistair. His mouth felt dry and gravity tugged on his limbs. Every sound around him felt both dull and deafening as they sawed into his eardrums. It took everything in him to stay present and focused.

“How do I ensure she survives?” Vin asked, watching Aoife dab the dewy sweat from the elf’s brow with a damp cloth.

Alistair sighed heavily, giving the queen a quick glance before returning his gaze to the king.

“We terminate the pregnancy.”

Vin’s eyes remained fixed on the queen. So limp and fragile, she hardly seemed alive as it was. Alistair was right, there wasn’t much time, and he knew, deep in his soul, that she would never come out of this alive if he took the risk. No matter how fiercely it burned in his chest to lose the child, he would never be able to live with the guilt of losing her.

“Your majesty, it’s your decision. Please, make it quickly.” Alistair’s tone was firm, yet pleading.

Vin swallowed hard.

“End it.” He answered quietly, his voice shaken and wispy.

Alistair nodded, rushing over to Angelique’s side, instructing her to proceed. They worked together quickly, spinning around each other with the grace and speed of a choreographed dance. As their motions blurred, Vin’s mind went blank, his jaw unconsciously clenched, brows twitching. He watched Alistair shuffle Aoife aside, her fingers reluctantly slipping away from the queen’s. Everyone, with the exception of Vin and Aoife, were ushered from the room. Briefly, the king and the young maid locked eyes, the dread in each other’s gaze evenly matched, and Vin suddenly understood the depth of her heart, and his own began to break with it.

“Miss Aoife!” Angelique called, beckoning her over to aid in the procedure.

With a quick jolt, she rushed over, nearly tripping over her own feet as she moved into position.

The ginger held Carmilla’s leg, standing opposite Angelique, Alistair quickly preparing between them. Giving Vin a glance, Aoife nodded to him, silently relieving him of his presence in the room.

Vin stood still for a moment, blankly staring at the crowded bed, before shuffling out of the infirmary, and into the hall, the heavy, wooden door thumping shut behind him. The corridor had nearly emptied, with the exception of Lucas and Marion, who stood tensely apart, but anxiously awaiting Vin’s emergence.

“What is it, darling? Is Carmilla alright?” Marion asked, quickly approaching her son, reaching out to grab his hand.

His palms were sweaty, and his hands trembled furiously with nerves and adrenaline. He couldn’t find it in himself to meet his mother’s gaze as the gravity of the current events began thoroughly sinking in.

“No.” Vin finally answered, his voice hollow and broken. “They’re… trying to save her.”

“Save her? A-and the baby?” Marion pressed, her grip tightening.

Vin shook his head, and Lucas swallowed hard, his fingers tightly curling around the loose, shirt fabric draped over his belly.

Marion’s eyes flickered, but she refrained from inquiring further, sensing her son’s distress, instead extending an offer to get a drink and some food to take his mind off of it. Vin declined, insisting that he should stay behind until the procedure was finished. She pressed her lips thin, giving her son a quick hug, and a soft, but heavy, smile, before turning away from him. For a brief moment, she locked eyes with Lucas, glancing down to his middle, barely hidden beneath his blouse, her brows creasing slightly, before shuffling off towards her chambers.

Lucas’s heart pounded harshly, butterflies swirling in his stomach. He had a feeling that things were going to become much more complicated, much sooner than he had anticipated. But now was hardly the time to worry about himself. Shaking off his own nerves, he stretched a comforting hand to his lover, withdrawing when Vin recoiled.

“I’m sorry.” The lycan whispered, his tone broken.

“I put her life at risk.” Vin murmured, more to himself than to Lucas.

“You didn’t know this would happen-”

“She could’ve died!” Vin’s eyes snapped up to Lucas’s, tears gathering at his waterline. “She still might…” With exhaustion and defeat, Vin leaned over, pressing his head against Lucas’s chest.

Instinctively, Lucas wrapped his arms around the shrunken vampire, his hands comfortingly stroking his back.

“I made her suffer so much, and it was all for nothing.” Vin’s muffled voice rumbled against Lucas’s body.

“Everything is gonna be okay.” Lucas whispered, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Vin’s head. It was the only thing he could think to say. He wasn’t even sure if he believed it, but it was all he had to offer to hold their world together.

Slowly, Vin pulled back, his hair shrouding his face.

“You should head home.”

“I don’t mind waiting with you-” Lucas started.

“No, I…” Vin sighed, his eyes glued to the tile floor, “you should get some rest. I’m going to be here for a while.”

“I can stay-”

“Lucas,” Vin’s voice was weak and pleading, and Lucas’s heart fell.

“You… want to be alone.” The lycan spoke in a whisper.

Vin nodded slowly.

Lucas drew a deep breath, a melancholic frown tugging at the corner of his mouth. He leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of his lover’s head.

“I’ll be home if you need me.” The knight assured, giving Vin’s arm a comforting squeeze, before turning away, and heading down the hall.

Once the sound of Lucas’s footsteps had faded away, Vin lifted his gaze, finding himself alone. He could hear light shuffling and voices coming from the infirmary, muffled by the thick, wooden door. He couldn’t quite make any of it out, and part of him was thankful for that. But even still, his mind remained weighted and troubled. With a sigh, he pressed his back into the cold, stone wall, sliding down to the floor.

All he could do now was wait.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Is it just me or has the card illustrations (specifically the groovy) been kinda bad lately? Like don't get me wrong most of the pre groovy are absolute bangers, but the groovies? Not so much. But lately there has been an obvious decrease in quality with anatomy, and even 😐 a whitewashing problem.

Take Lilia's dorm groovy for example— the piece is gorgeous, but whenever I zoom into his face the way they draw his face looks so off.

As for the whitewashing issue, I've noticed that Leona's beastly garb groovy had him very ashy looking (but some may argue that it's just the lighting casted on him)

Right now though the one that's been bothering me the most is the obvious whitwashing on Kalim's tsum groovy. We really can't argue that it's a lighting issue there, cause Jamil's firework card had a similar setting and he didn't look that light.

Personally, I think TWST’s Groovy illustrations have always been hit or miss since the beginning. I have similar issues with the faces in Lilia and Leona’s Dorm Uniform Groovies, and the anatomy seemed slightly off in a few others. I can’t find the original post anymore (I think OP didn’t tag it??), but I clearly recall an artist having spoken about how the pose in Epel’s initial Dorm Uniform art looked weird; they included drawings of how Epel’s spine and limbs looked vs how they should look to illustrate what they meant. Those are just a few examples of then and now though, and we have to keep in mind that if we include ALL available cards then the funky faces and weird posing/proportions only make up a very small percentage of what’s out there.

The more important issue at the moment is the coloring choices that were made for a few recent SSR event Groovies: Beastly Garb Leona and Tsumsted Kalim. They are pictured below with a few other card illustrations I pulled that have similar lighting (or as similar as I could find). You’ll notice (especially for Tsumsted Kalim’s Groovy) that the characters’ skin colors are much lighter than they should be.

Now I’ll be honest here 💦 I actually can’t tell (even when eyedropping the colors to compare; I don't even know if eyedropping is an accurate way to compare colors since the lighting and environment in every illustration is never EXACTLY the same) if Leona’s Beastly Garb Groovy is just the strong sunlight or if it has been whitewashed. I don’t have enough knowledge and/or experience with color theory and in real life to know for certain. However, as the Anon has said, that same argument cannot be made for the Scarabia duo. It’s particularly bad for Tsumsted Kalim because Yasmina Silk Jamil also had fireworks in the background, and his skin color is fine there. Sometimes artists purposefully use an altered color palate to achieve a different feeling in their pieces (for example, pastel colors for a soft, soothing look). I don’t think that was the case for Tsumsted Kalim because everything else in the Groovy art looks pretty true to color for the lighting (but again, I'm not an expert in coloring so I could be wrong). When taken in conjunction with Leona’s Beastly Garb… it could indicate a troubling pattern.

There’s been a lot of speculation going around for why this has happened, chief among that speculation being the TWST team has likely hired new staff and/or colorists (and Japan, being Japan, is pretty homogenous; it may be difficult to find artists with an understanding of how to color and shade darker skin tones). Again, these are just guesses circulating in the fandom. Nothing is confirmed, and nor does this excuse what has happened.

This has, very understandably, caused a lot of hurt and upset in the TWST fandom and community. So now the question is…

What can we do about it?

You can communicate your feelings to the TWST team! They have a form to collect thoughts and opinions from the playerbase, which can be accessed here.

PLEASE NOTE:

Be polite and professional. Nothing good comes out of anger, especially if the anger is directed at others; if you are rude and/or curse at the staff, they will be much less likely to hear you out.

Communicate in Japanese. The staff you are sending your complaint to are Japanese, and the game itself is Japanese (Beastly Garb Leona and Tsumsted Kalim are not yet out in the EN server, which is staffed by totally different people).

If you don’t know how to write in Japanese, this Twitter user has created polite templates to communicate our concerns with the whitewashing. (Their whole thread is great; please reference it if you need additional assistance!!) I would not recommend adding extra text, especially if you would be relying on a translation program to do so. Speaking in broken Japanese can be perceived as rude and will only detract from your message.

A similar situation to this occurred during the initial run of Fairy Gala; TWST had used “exotic” in its text, and after receiving an influx of feedback from the players, the devs went in and changed the dialogue to no longer use the term. It’s possible to make the change we want to see a reality if we respectfully make our thoughts known.

[niaerinisms]

Blades 3 VIP spoilers (theory-ish regarding Aerin)

Thinking about Aerin’s life pre-Blades… So according to what we know so far, Aerin was noticed by the Shadow Court and began conversing with the Dreadlord when he was 8-9, as we know he got the Nerada stone when he turned 9…

We also know that Aerin knew other members of the Shadow Court, mainly Nyra, as she was his tutor… But as he grew older, the Dreadlord began talking to him more often, while he lost touch with Nyra

Now… Here’s where it gets interesting… We found out Aurinae is working for Nifara and doesn’t actually care for Aerin, only valuing power… She mentions she was the most proud of him when he was working with the Dreadlord… I assumed this meant that she was watching from above which is established as something the dead can do…

But…

‘You were already talking with The Shadow Court’ Meaning that Aurinae died afterwards… I always found it strange that literally no one knew about Aerin, especially considering he was literally nine… But Aurinae specifically mentioning how she cleared up everyone’s messes… This makes me think she was aware of Aerin and the Dreadlord and hid this information, maybe even quietly pushing Aerin further without him ever knowing.,.

TL;DR: AURINAE YOU CRAZY BITCH (affectionate), YOU SAW HIM GETTING GROOMED??? Nifara and Ashy you have nothing on her

[yamayuandadu]

What is your opinion on the article "Mesopotamian or Iranian? A New Investigation on the Origin of the Goddess Anāhitā" by Alireza Qaderi?

He proposes that Anahita is possibly the syncretism of an Iranian Water goddess with Annunitum, and while it largely makes a lot of sense to me, especially with how it points out that we can't treat the Avesta as we know it as identical to the Avesta in Zarathustra's time, it also assumes the Central Asian goddess Ardokhsho comes from Aredvi Sura instead of Arti, and everything else I've seen just says Ardokhsho comes from Arti, although I haven't seen much literature on either deity tbh

Sorry it took me a few days to answer this ask even though it’s basically laser focused on my interests. I had some other stuff to read and unpleasant work duties to perform and couldn’t properly go through the recommended paper.

My feelings about the paper are mixed. I think anyone who remembers Annunitum was a distinct deity as early as in the late third millennium BCE deserves at least some credit. The notion of interchangeability of goddesses still haunts the field, fueled by Bible scholars, Helsinki hyperdiffusionists and the like. Overall the author shines in the sections dedicated only to the evaluation of the broadly Iranian material, but as soon as the focus switches to Mesopotamia things fall apart, sadly. More under the cut. Hope you don’t mind that I’ll also use this as an opportunity to talk about Annunitum in Sippar in general. I've been gathering sources to improve her wiki article further (don’t expect that any time soon though). 

The Iranian material

Criticizing the vintage attempts at equating Anahita with Sarasvati is sound and sensible. Same with stressing that she is distinct from Nanaya and Oxus. The criticism of theories depending on lack of familiarity with the historical range of the beaver was a nice touch too, it demonstrates well that the author wanted to cover as much previous literature as possible. However, I also have no clue what’s up with “ΑΡΔΟΧΡΟ has an ambiguous relationship with Arədvī Sūrā”, I’ve also only ever seen this name explained as a derivative of Ashi/Arti save for a single paper trying to force a link to Oxus which was met with critical responses. It’s entirely possible this is an argument I simply haven’t seen though, I’m also not really familiar with this matter.

Overall the arguments against seeking Anahita’s origin in the east are perfectly sensible, and line up with the evidence well - no issues at all with this part of the paper. Following a more detailed list of Anahita’s easter attestations from Shenkar’s Intangible spirits and graven images. She appears on some Kushano-Sasanian coins, but this seems to reflect importing her from the west relatively late on since she appears in neither Kushan nor Bactrian sources. The coins are even exclusively inscribed in Middle Persian, with no trace of the local vernacular. 

For unclear reasons Anahita caught on to a degree even further east in Sogdia, but attestations are limited to the period between fourth and sixth centuries. Since they’re largely just generic theophoric names, it is hard to call her anything but a minor deity of indeterminate character in this context, though. I’ve seen the argument that the popularity of Oxus in the east might have been the obstacle to introducing her. Oxus was a bigger deal in Bactria than in Sogdia so it could even explain why Sogdians were slightly more keen on her, arguably, even if they and Bactrians came into contact with her cult under similar circumstances.

Back to the article, the section dealing with the western attestations starts on a pretty strong note too. The need for reevaluation if it’s fair to talk about Achaemenid rulers as “Zoroastrian” is a mainstay of studies published over the past 10-15 years or so. I can’t weigh on the linguistic arguments because I know next to nothing about that.

I’m not sure if I follow the argument that it makes no sense Iranian population wouldn’t need a royal order to start worshipping a new deity as long as they were Iranian, tbh - linguistic or cultural affiliation doesn’t come prepackaged with automatically updated list of deities one is obliged to instantly adopt as soon as they pop up into existence. Following this logic, why didn’t Sargon’s Akkadian speaking subjects in Syria just adopt Ilaba before being obliged to do so? You will find literally hundreds of cases like this, it’s a very weird argument to me.

The Mesopotamian material

The biggest problems start once the coverage of Mesopotamia begins. The rigor evident in the strictly Iranian sections of the article just… vanishes and it’s incredibly weird. Herodotus as a source is… quite something. The phrase “ a goddess with a Semitic character” is… well, quite something too (Reallexikon generally advises against defining anything but languages as “Semitic” in Mesopotamian context - Mesopotamian is a perfectly fine label to use, and accounts for the fact that Sumerian, Hurrian and Kassite are not a part of the Semitic language family). It keeps repeating later and admittedly I’m not very fond of this. Especially when it pertains to the west of Iran, where deities originating in Mesopotamia were worshiped since the late third millennium BCE - they were more Elamite than Mesopotamian by the time Persians showed up, really. The matter is covered in detail in Wouter Henkelman’s Other Gods who Are with Adad in the Persepolis Fortification Archive as a case study.

Cybele was by no means Mesopotamian (with each new study she keeps becoming more strictly Phrygian, with earlier Anatolian, let alone Mesopotamian, influence becoming less and less likely) so I'm not sure what she's doing here, Nanaya’s associations with lions is almost definitely an Iranian innovation and not attested before the late first millennium BCE; despite earlier sound arguments against ascribing strictly Avestan Zoroastrian sensibilities to people in the late first millennium BCE, that’s basically what happens here. Lions were evidently viewed favorably by at least some Persians and especially Bactrians and Sogdians.

The less said about the part trying to link evidence from Palmyra to Inanna and Dumuzi (what does a marginal spouse deity like Dumuzi, entirely absent from Palmyra, have to do with Sabazius, a veritable pantheon head equated with Zeus?), the better. Frazerian bit, if I have to be honest.

I’m not sure about the enthusiasm for Boyce’s argument that it makes little sense for Anahita to simultaneously be a river goddess and to bestow victory in battle. The latter characteristic lines up well with her elevation to the position of a deity tied to investiture of kings, which in turn is something which boils down to personal preference of a given dynasty. The character of deities isn’t necessarily supposed to be one-dimensional and having distinct spheres of activity because of historical factors is hardly unusual.

Stressing that it’s not possible to treat Anahita and Ishtar as interchangeable is commendable. However, I don’t think it’s possible to claim continuity between the religious beliefs reflected in the relief of Anubanini and first millennium BCE Media. The argument is not pursued further, to be fair, but it’s still weird.

The next huge issue is the treatment of the late “Anu theology”. A good recent overview of this matter can be found in Krul’s 2018 monograph (shared by the author herself here).

For starters, it’s completely baffling to declare Anu had no spouse at first; Urash and Ki are both attested in the Early Dynastic period already - and the former appears reasonably commonly in this role in literary texts and god lists. Even Antu might already be present in the Abu Salabikh list.

Attributing Inanna prominence in Uruk and in the Eanna in particular to identification with Antu is utterly nightmarish and one of the worst Inanna takes I’ve ever seen; the fact it’s contradicted by information of the same page makes it pretty funny, admittedly. Inanna’s ties to the city go back literally to the beginning of recorded history (some of the oldest texts in the world are demands aimed at cities under the control of Uruk to provide offerings for Inanna ffs), and probably even further back. Meanwhile, Anu for most of his history was an abstract hardly worshiped deity; Krul stresses this in the beginning of her book linked above. I’m not a fan of ancient matriarchy takes which are often lurking in the background when the cases of earliest city goddesses like Inanna, Nisaba and Nanshe are discussed but I do think the need to downplay Inanna’s prominence and elevate Anu which pops up every few years in scholarship is suspect and probably motivated by sexism, consciously or not, tbh. 

Trying to make the “Anu theology” which developed in the late first millennium BCE an influence on the entirety of Mesopotamia and beyond is puzzling. Sabazius appearing in Palmyra with a spouse is tied to Anu, somehow? The fact that deities had spouses is? Atargatis ties into this somehow? I’m sorry, but I’m not following. Also, Uruk was no longer a theological center of the Mesopotamian world in the first millennium BCE. Babylon was, and before that Nippur. There is no need to speculate, there are thousands of texts to back it up. The late sources from Uruk in particular show that Babylon was somewhat forcefully influencing the city, not the other way around.

The Anu theology was a display of local “nationalism” of Uruk and had a very limited impact. There is evidence for some degree of late theological cooperation between Uruk and Nippur, and possibly Der as well (Der itself despite being located with certainty has yet to be excavated, though, so caution is necessary), but nothing of this sort is to be found in the late sources from other locations.

Annunitum = Anahita?

Finally, let’s look at the core idea behind the article.

Right off the bat I feel it’s necessary to stress Annunitum generally wasn’t regarded as an astral deity. In the Old Babylonian period, the Venus role was evidently handled by Ninsianna in Sippar; later on they aren’t even attested there but the regular Ishtar is. Seems doubtful it would actually be Annunitum who got to be an astral deity there at any point in time.

This claim is also highly dubious. There is no evidence that Antu was ever worshiped in Sippar, let alone that she was equated there with Annunitum; she doesn’t show up at all in Jennie Myers’ 2002 thesis The Sippar pantheon: a diachronic study. Paul-Alain Beaulieu stresses her lack of importance all across Mesopotamia save for first millennium BCE Uruk here. There is also no evidence that the late Anu theology impacted Sippar in any capacity. Shamash retained his position in the city until the death of cuneiform. Even in Uruk, Annunitum in the late sources appears only in association with Ishtar and Nanaya, not Anu and Antu. I will repeat how I feel about the need to assert Anu’s importance where there is no trace of it. Overall it feels like unrelated Mesopotamian and adjacent sources from different areas and time periods are used indiscriminately; which is ironically the criticism employed in the article wrt the treatment of Iranian textual sources by other researchers. The Assyriological sources employed leave a bit to be desired, too. In particular Abusch’s Ishtar entry in the Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible is a nightmare (he’s good when he covers incantations but his broader “theological” proposals are… quite something), here are some quotes from it to show how awful it is is a central point of reference:

Of the other authors cited, Jacobsen is Jacobsen and a lot changed since the 1960s. Roberts was criticized right after his study was published by researchers like Aage Westenholz. Langdon’s study from the early 1900s is an outdated nightmare, I guess we know what’s up with the Dumuzi hot takes now. Beaulieu is great but his papers and monographs aren’t really utilized to any meaningful extent, I feel. 

Other criticisms aside, I’m unsure if Annunitum was important enough in the fifth century BCE to be noticed by Artaxerxes II as postulated here, especially since Shamash was right next door and definitely retained some degree of prominence. Most if not all cases of Mesopotamian deities influencing Persian or broader Iranian tradition reflect widespread cults of popular deities - Nanaya, Nabu (via influence on Tishtrya), Nergal (in the west, around Harran) - as opposed to a b-list strictly local deity. And it’s really hard to refer to Annunitum differently. Let’s take a quick look at her position in the twin cities of Sippar - as far as I am aware, the most recent treatment of this matter is still Myers’ thesis, and that’s what I will rely on here. 

Annunitum is first attested in Sippar in the Old Babylonian period, during the reign of Sabium, though as a deity already locally major enough to appear in an oath formula alongside Shamash. In the Early Dynastic period Sippar-Amnanum was likely associated with an enigmatic figure designated by the logogram ÉREN+X who doesn’t seem to be related to her. When and how exactly the tutelary deity change occurred is not presently possible to determine and admittedly of no real relevance here.

Evidently Annunitum’s cult in Sippar was influenced to some degree by the Sargonic tradition she originated in, her temple was even called Eulmaš just like that in Akkad. It’s not impossible it was even originally founded by one of the members of the Sargonic dynasty, but in absence of pre-OB evidence caution is necessary. There is no shortage of later rulers who wanted to partake in the Sargonic legacy, after all. By the earliest documented times, it was the second most important temple in the Sippar agglomeration, and the only one beside the Ebabbar to have its own administrative structure. Annunitum was even referred to as the “queen of Sippar” (Šarrat Sippar; note that by the Neo-Babylonian period this title came to function as a distinct goddess, though). In Sippar-Amnanum there was a street, a gate and a canal named after her. A bit over 6% of the inhabitants of both cities bore theophoric names invoking her, also. Sippar-Amnanum was abandoned for some 200 years after the reign of Ammi-saduqa, but it seems the clergy simply moved to the other Sippar next door. Next few centuries are very sparsely documented at this site, but supposedly Shagarakti-Shuriash rebuilt Annunitum’s temple (the matter is discussed in detail here).

Inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser I dealing with the conquest of northern Babylonia affirm that Annunitum continued to be viewed as the goddess of Sippar through the Neo-Assyrian period. According to an inscription of Nabonidus her temple, and Sippar-Amnanum as a whole, were razed by Sennacherib (he also blames “Gutians” for it though by then this is a label as generic as “barbarian”). This might be why her cult had to be relocated to the other part of Sippar again. In the Neo-Babylonian period it returned to Sippar-Amnanum under Neriglissar, though her temple was only rebuilt by Nabonidus. It survived at least until the reign of Darius, though it was only a small sanctuary (É.KUR.RA.MEŠ) like those of Adad and Gula.

There is very little evidence for popular worship of her so late on: only two theophoric names have been identified…. For comparison, Shamash appears in 208 (out of 823 theophoric names, out of a total of 1243 total). Nergal, Gula, Adad and even Amurru are all more common.  Aya is also absent, but unlike Annunitum despite her prominence in earlier periods she was actually never common in theophoric names, save for the names of naditu; and naditu ceased to be a thing after the OB period.

Offering lists complicate the matter further. From the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Annunitum started to lose ground to a duo introduced from Dur-Kurigalzu: a manifestation of Nanaya associated with this city and Ishtar-tashme. Why they suddenly appeared in Sippar and why they overshadowed Annunitum is uncertain, perhaps Dur-Kurigalzu just failed to recover from decline after the end of the Kassite period and eventually the decision was made to start transferring local deities to other nearby major urban centers. The process reversed during the reign of Nabonidus, who ordered an increase in offerings made to her. This might’ve been motivated by his general concern for Sin and any deities considered members of his immediate family - essentially, a display of personal devotion. This elevation is still evident in offering lists from the reign of Cyrus, though.

Overall the paper is quite convincing - outstanding, even - when it comes to the Iranian material alone, and between mediocre and nightmarish once the author shifts to Mesopotamia.