#but due to the fact that he symbolizes so much of what has plagued my mind in my youth I cannot express how much I've come to resent him

[solspina]

Sanguinius is my favorite primarch, yet we have so little lore on his actual backstory. Do you have any headcanons about Baal or Baal’s culture 🥺?

Hello anon! I do actually have a few headcanons about baal and quite a few others about how sanguinius grew up in its environment!

i’m incredibly happy to answer your ask, especially considering that it’s about my favorite primarch too. never hesitate to ask again, this was really fun to write!

─── ⋆⋅ ♰ ⋅⋆ ───

Environment:

I think that the surface of Baal would be a lot like that of Mars.

It’s a very dry, rocky, and hot planet.

I don’t have many headcanons about Baal itself, but Baal Secundis, the second moon of the planet where Sanguinius was raised isn’t much different from the mother planet.

Other than the fact it’s absolutely plagued with radiation and some of the most hideous creatures ever seen.

It’s been mentions in lore a few times that Sanguinius thinks his wings may be a result of the radioactive environment.

Because of this, I think that Baal Secundis is very fallout-like.

Miles and miles of empty and desolate desert, perhaps occasionally some leftover pieces of armor from previous battles, and many, many bones.

Culture:

It’s also canon that Sanguinius was alone in the desert for what you can assume was a pretty decently long time.

He was found either as a very young adult or as an old teenager, probably naked and highly radioactive.

The planet was incredibly war infested as also told by lore, so I can imagine that the tribe Sanguinius was raised in caused him to do a fair share of fighting.

I believe that the war may have possibly been due to a clash of cultures.

Many sources state that the people lived in a Nomadic culture, they were travelers, scavengers even.

For the longest time, the people of Baal had no god to believe in, nothing to tie them together.

But by the end of his time on the planet, everyone worshiped Sanguinius. He had brought them peace and togetherness under his name.

Lore also states that the culture and current customs on Baal are HEAVILY influenced by the angel.

There are holidays after him.

Culture is one of those things that has a million aspects, but my favorite to consider is obviously weddings!

I think that weddings were merely a concept before sanguinius arrived, but once he had and the people learned it was okay to love, couples united together left and right.

He used to attend more official and political weddings on baal, even going as far as to officiate a few of them. Now, this is handled by Dante.

At modern baalian weddings, women tend to string white feathers in their hair as a symbol of protection and honor from Sanguinius.

Much like a traditional American wedding, brides also wear white as a symbol of purity, something the angel had honored. The difference? Husbands wear white too!

Guests are to wear whatever they wish, as long as it honors the primarch, but the bride’s jewelry is traditionally gold.

engagement rings are ALWAYS made of ruby, to symbolize both the blood of sanguinius and a blood covenant between husband and wife.

I think that it’s also a coming of age event for all male Baalians who wish to be accepted by their tribes to make a journey to the sarcophagus of Sanguinius at their coming of age, probably naked to simulate what the angel himself had to go and fight through as a child.

Many young men hope that when they arrive they will hear his voice, or that the luckiest will receive a vision from his spirit within the warp.

Has Sanguinius seen any of them as worthy enough to see his spirit? That’s for you to decide ;)

[mako-neexu]

going insane over dantes and ordeal call chapter 2 post #234098 the way he says his flames burn hotter/more poisonous than in his normal Saint Graph and you literally remember he made a new Spirit Origin for guda and his NPs are literally ABOUT guda, the color choice in the 3rd ascension with blue accents on his stars and eyes said to be the color of guda's SOUL time and time again,　

and he also literally looks like goetia because "MY DESTINY" (istfg im going CRAZY. im going crazy!!! my desiny??? MY DESTINY!!?!?!?!?) and both him and dantes had that one on one to guda, goetia also made a hilariously BAD set up against himself so like dantes and guda became partners in crime in prison tower like goetia unintentionally played MATCHMAKER and created the worst duo ever im shitting tears. the probable reason as well why he looks like that in the 3rd ascension is because dantes viewed goetia as "an ultimate enemy guda overcame" which he positioned himself in as well so he could be defeated which was his goal in the first place i think im going to break from so much info bro. theres also the fact that prison tower and pseudo-tokyo are basically the same (that also required huge amount of mana) -> guda was dropped into prison tower, (directly/indirectly) helped by gankutsuou, stuck in chateau d'lf/becoming an Avenger by giving into temptation->bad end || overcoming the trials each floor/understanding the Avenger class, overcoming the flames-> return to chaldea. dantes positioning himself once more as both that tiny light of hope and that enemy who has guda fall into a trap likei am so. n.lromnal. I think i hauve covid

and thinking about. "my destiny" "my radiant one" "my one good thing" "my star" like- to be loved is to be changed. man. to be loved is to be!!!changed!!! and the blue and pink-purple flames that symbolize GUDA having been so special to him in this life that it changed him, BECAME SO SPECIAL TO HIM!!! (you can literally see it in his EYES??? his 4th aascension art where his flame is BLUE AS WELL??????????)

that he is still Avenger, Count of Monte Cristo, he who enacted vengeance and the greatest seeker of it, he who continues to hate and burn eternally yet chooses to love!!!!!!!!!!!!! becoming that tiny light of hope to an innocent soul and now here they stand, that tiny light he continued to protect now shines more radiant than anything else, and because of that love, his flames burn much much more fiercely than his previous saint graph and like he has you stay away bc you might evaporate to nothing and he explicitly says theyre stronger in his Monte Cristo alt!! while hes also trying to distance himself from you again bc he must still hold guilt in his heart for making you go through the Avenger ordeal and as well as the fact that you literally need to leave the flames/Avengers behind due to their conflicting nature with the wall bc being attached would be sooo hard to let go and especially considering what you and dantes went through together like what is this?? its like a giant slap of I LOVE YOU SO MUCH against my face????????? theres literally nothihg left of my remains????????????

dantes is also basically so stupidly even more overpowered here have you seen his skills??? Count of Monte Cristo Mythologie became a skill along with the fourteen relics/14 jewels and he can jUST cassually!???? activate that!?!?!?????? meanwhile WHAT HE CONSIDER AS HIS NOBLE PHANTASM IN THIS SAINT GRAPH IS O STAR/O YOU WHO, CONQUER THAT BRILLIANT PATH??? THAT VERY ONE ABOUT GUDA???? IS THIS REAL????? his NP dmg and effects are so crazy too???? LITERALLY POWERED BY LOVE AND BACKED UP BY AGE OF GODS LEVEL FUCK YOU ENERGY ?? im plagued by dantes and OC2 thoughts since last month someone free me ajdkfgk

[horse-girl-anthy]

Anthy as a Personification of Cruelty

short essay under the cut

both Enokido and Ikuhara have spoken of Anthy as a symbol of reality, or character used to signal that reality is entering the drama. as reality is cruel, Anthy must be cruel, and she is aware of many cruel realities. she is the rose, the beautiful and short-lived flower, which grows in tandem the cold thorn of disillusionment.

it's not a mistake to read Anthy as having personal feelings; in fact, much of the anime is about uncovering and allowing her to express personal feelings. even though she is often ambiguous and remote, the audience is clearly given glimpses into her worry, fear, despair, unhappiness, and pain, as well as love, hope, and desire for connection. what makes the characterization so compelling is that in tandem with Anthy-the-character operates Anthy-the-symbol, or Anthy-the-plot-device. the story revolves around her humanization and freedom from the narrative, yet within each script, Anthy is used like a puppet to keep the story moving forward.

Akio is a similar character, and at first, it seems they are serving the same aim of bringing reality into the drama, as Akio shows the duelists "the End of the World." a less interesting show would have stopped with him. it could have been a story about how the world is a corrupt place, the strong take advantage of the weak, and at the end of the day, that's all there is. but at the true "End of the World," the end of the show, who does Utena find? Anthy. Akio kept everyone running in circles; Anthy brings the system crashing down. why is this?

I think that Akio represents "false reality," while Anthy represents "true reality." in a way, they are both stunted and immature, but Anthy, by her very being, her knowledge of the Swords of Hate, is beyond Akio; she has an alien, unimaginable perspective, due to truly knowing what suffering means. Akio doesn't suffer on an profound level, he's just driven himself to self-pitying madness. basically, he's making Anthy's problems about him and his failure to be the prince.

so Akio is the false god who keeps his adherents dazzled by false enlightment, but can't impart true change; in fact, he resists it. resisting change is also a part of the growth process. perhaps Anthy and Akio are siblings because they both must "work their magic" for the narrative to play out. the "false maturity" stage presented by Akio may be the necessary prescedent to Anthy's "true reality." however, as Akio demonstrates, it's possible to just stay in false adulthood forever. Akio refused to touch Anthy's true self, or the swords that plagued her (unless he could use them for his own power). he wouldn't share her suffering; he was afraid of the cruelty she embodied.

the show is essentially about Utena and the other characters moving closer and closer to awareness of suffering, often represented through Anthy, but eventually swallowing up Utena. the final conversation of the Student Council focuses on the cruelty, coldness, and unfairness of the world, which they know will fall upon the selfless.

the cruelty that Anthy embodies is not malevolent when seen this way. it is something that must be faced in order to truly grow up. it hurts to experience it, but it is in fact is the only way to leave Ohtori. Anthy ushers in both Mikage and Utena's difficult graduations, for instance. she is hated for the truths she carries, but her cruelty is not without purpose. she cannot see a world beyond her suffering, but without her, there would be no way to reach that other world. this is because suffering is inherently a part of life, along with many other cruelties, such as separation and death.

I'll end with a quote from my favorite novel, Tehanu: "he would learn [pain] again and again, all his life, and forget none of it. And therefore he would not [...] do the easy thing to do." this perhaps gets at the core of the issue: Akio does the easy thing, the thing that costs him nothing, because he does not know pain. Anthy has to bear pain alone, and so her world revolves around her suffering. Utena learns pain and will never turn her eyes away from it again, and Anthy, no longer alone, can step into a world with a future. true maturity is reached in communion with others, and a true adult is someone who can take in the world as it is and continue living. heroically and with style, when possible.

[iravaid]

💤 🩹💯🎮🖊️ - for (alleged) babygirl Lee 🥰

LEE KINSEY MY BALDING PRINCESS!!!! Amazing excellent. He is in fact a babygirl, a sopping wet sad, incidentally hyperviolent, one 🥰

(this ask meme, for context)

💤 SLEEPING SIGN — is your oc a light sleeper or a heavy sleeper? how are their sleeping habits?

Leander Kinsey has not had a full night's sleep in years and he is a very light sleeper. Watch out! Local man plagued by nightmares of a wolf eating his face sleeps with a knife under his pillow!

🩹 ADHESIVE BANDAGE — does your oc have any physical and/or mental disabilities?

He has chronic migraines babey!! They can make him physically ill every now and again and that motherfucker Still has to go to work because it's 1920-whatever!!

Lee's also got a lot of issues surrounding the violent life he was brought up in, and in turn got immersed in when he left Virginia. It can manifest in hypervigilance and aggression, but Lee also has dogshit self esteem and no sense of self, and that in turn stunts his emotional development.

💯 HUNDRED POINTS SYMBOL — share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

Nice tits. and rack, love it. Shout out to Gen who wants Lee to squeeze into an anachronistic pair of jorts 🫡

Lee learned about the Origin of the Species from an ecologist he was hired to transport from the National Academy of Sciences in DC, to the Sonora in order to study gila monsters. The ecologist was worried rival academics would try to steal his work, and so hired what he believed to be the scariest guy in the bar to keep him safe. Odd little adventure for Lee, and he's long forgotten the name of the ecologist (who has certainly not forgotten about Lee)(don't worry about that), but at least Lee found out more about hogs.

Lee's full first name, Leander, is inspired by the poisonous plant oleander. His mother's name was Isabella, like belladonna. His brother was named Syracuse and his father Abraham, biblical names. The family was always meant to be divided down these lines. There's a relatively large age gap between Lee and his older brother, due to issues with conception and fertility. When Lee was born, he was a small and quiet baby, which was offputting to his parents, and people believed he wouldn't make it past adolescence. Abraham had no interest in Lee, as Syracuse was an early bloomer and grew to be tall and broad, therefore proving useful.

Isabella resents getting the 'scraps' (Lee) very deeply, and Lee has a vivid memory of his mother standing over him as a child, when she thought Lee was asleep. Lee doesn't know whether or not she was debating smothering him, and he never found out, either.

🎮 VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER — what are three of your oc's favorite hobbies?

He likes. uh. hold on let me check the file. So, he likes staring at the wall of his shitty,, musty shack at 2am when he's too exhausted to think and there is a moment of blessed silence. He might pick up whittling one day, but he doesn't think he's all that coordinated enough to make anything of value.

Lee doesn't think he's much of a person right now, so he doesn't have the mental and physical energy to dedicate time towards hobbies, BUT, if things go well and he gets the space to heal and grow and such, I can see Lee slowly learning how to play the fiddle.

In another life, I can also see Lee keeping pigeons. They're sweet little things and they don't ask for much in exchange for a little softness. I'm also very charmed by the thought of a man with hands like his own holding a small bird that trusts him implicitly, unaware Lee is scared of crushing it.

🖊️ BALLPOINT PEN — does your oc have any tattoos? do they want any (more) tattoos?

He doesn't but I wish he did 😔 They're not mister Kinsey's style, but I did play with the thought of him having a chest tattoo of a snake or eagle, in the style that was popular back in the day.

Thank you for the ask!! Buzzing to talk about ocs... tha beasts...

[alethiometry]

what's this aco himym fic huh!!

kate i don't know how much you know about ac odyssey from whatever the hell i or anyone else you follow has posted about the game in the last however long it's been since it came out, so i am very very sorry if none of this makes any goddamn sense.

OKAY FIRST OF ALL i need to say that i have literally never in my life watched a single episode of himym and i do not intend to and i know nothing about it except i'm aware that people have Opinions on how it ended. it has barely fuckall to do with this fic, except that i just cannot think of a fitting title.

the short summary is that this is a kassidas fic where for some reason (have yet to figure this out) brasidas ends up with custody of elpidios and tells him all about how he and kassandra met, how their relationship developed, and how they came to be where they are now (hence the filename).

the long summary is i got WAYYYYY too ambitious with this fic and it mutated from being like a cutesy little wish-fulfillment love story to a full-blown fix-it fic where i want to address most if not all of my most vexing plotholes in ac odyssey, ranging from plot points that make no sense, to character interactions or lack thereof that had zero closure, to a complete rewrite of the very bad no good comphet dlc. and although i hated how the game handled the forced romance between kassandra and natakas, i do think there is/want to see if i can find a way to make their relationship more complex and messy and interesting by removing the romance of it but just making him a more fleshed-out character. part of my worry is that the dlc is so reviled (with good reason) across the fandom that this premise is dead on arrival anyway and no one will like it, not even myself. but at the same time, i still want the endgame of this fic to be kassidas-focused, because they are my everything and to me there is no ac odyssey without them*, and so i have to figure out a way to write some kind of weird love/parental triangle between the three of them even though i fucking hate triangles**

i waver back and forth between the himym-ness of it being due to the fact that for whatever reason kassandra is no longer in elpidios' life (thus bringing it closer to official game canon), or just waving a gigantic middle finger to ubisoft and letting kassandra actually be a mother to her son whom she loves so so much and barely got to spend any time with, but she's understandably pretty tight-lipped about her past because she's aware of the heaps and heaps of generational trauma that's plagued her family and wants to break that cycle, so it's up to brasidas to spill the tea.

another layer of complexity/difficulty in writing all of this is that i imagine elpidios to be around 7 when the story starts, because that's the same age kass was when she lost her family, so then that age becomes sort of symbolic as a milestone. which means there's also the issue of not a whole lot of ac odyssey being appropriate for a kid of that age. like, graphic violence and dark themes aside... i can't really have it be like "yeah and after decapitating korinth's biggest meanest crime lord your mother flipped me over and pegged me six ways to [whatever the ancient greek equivalent of sunday is]" and just... yeah. i don't know. i still think about what i want to do with this fic often, but i think there's a very good reason why i have barely even opened it in almost 2 years.

*this made me giggle as i typed it out bc actual historical spartan general brasidas has like 15 minutes total of screentime in a 100+ hour game. but it's also not a joke because despite all that (and also getting fucking killed at the battle of amphipolis) he still had more chemistry with kassandra than any of the other like 15 actually-romanceable characters in the game.

**another tongue-in-cheek joke/double entendre because it's revealed in the game that pythagoras who did all that triangle math equation stuff is kassandra's biological father and an absentee, deadbeat one at that. fuck that guy fr

[arcanenrok]

My burning hatred for Doctor John Harvey Kellogg, whom I want to skin alive and throw into the Dead Sea, is flaring up again, so I wanted to share an analogy to get a point across.

I am assuming you have fingernails, and probably toenails, too. These are body parts, and sometimes they are a little troublesome. Perhaps they get ingrown, or you get a hangnail, or dirt accumulates under them or fungus grows in them. I imagine you would not want to deal with these problems.

Perhaps you should get them ripped off? Better yet, when you have a child, rip off their fingernails and toenails so they never have to worry about these problems. When they’re a newborn, they will be too delicate to be put under anesthesia, but it’s better to do this sooner than later, so they’ll just have to endure it, and they won’t remember the pain anyway.

Now you probably are already objecting to this idea. For one, it’s super painful. I heard that sticking sharp stuff under people’s nails was a form of torture implemented at some point. Also, you probably don’t like the idea of having body parts ripped off of you.

However, do you really need nails? I mean, I haven’t researched this, but I don’t it’s necessary to check, so let’s just get on with it and remove them. I mean, even if you didn’t have nails, you’d still be able to use your hands, right? You can live a happy and fulfilling life without nails, right? I mean, what, are you a freak obsessed with manicures? Come one, you’re totally a rabid, emotional, insecure loser for being upset about having your nails removed. Get over yourself, not having nails is a completely first world problem, some people are missing their entire limbs, and even they can get along fine and live a happy life. Besides, some people think that fingers without nails look good, you’ll be popular.

Wait, you still don’t want your nails removed? Oh, well that’s too bad, because I went back in time to popularize the practice of nail removing so that the sinful and vain practice of nail polish becomes discouraged, and so your parents removed your nails when you were too young to be able to object, as did many other parents.

You may have noticed that my tone had become a tad hyperbolic, sarcastic, and satirical in the preceding paragraphs. In case you missed it, no, I am not advocating for the removal of nails, but I think it’s a good analogy, because regardless if they said “it’s a boy” or “it’s a girl” at your gender reveal party, you probably have nails, and it’s safe to assume the thought of someone ripping them off is upsetting. Hopefully I demonstrated the point that having body parts removed to prevent minor inconveniences, even if supposedly the lack of such body parts will not negatively impact your life too much, is probably something you’d want a say in, and something you’d probably say no to, and if someone went ahead with it anyway, you’d probably want them charged in court for assault.

And if you knew anything about the perverse puritan named Kellog, who I mentioned at the beginning of this post, among his other crimes, he popularized circumcision as a means to combat the “sin” of masturbation. So nowadays, circumcision is justified, because supposedly, it discourages sin, you can still function in daily life and in your sex life without a foreskin, the baby doesn’t remember the pain, and the ladies apparently prefer it. “Intactivists” have on occasion been characterized as sex obsessed freaks who are obsessed with their penises/foreskins, but it isn’t surprising for discussions about penises to mainly involve sex, as that’s the primary function of the penis, and it also isn’t unusual for someone, upon realizing that they are missing a body part, to think a lot about that body part.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, the desire to not have your nails ripped off is universal among the sexes, so I like this analogy because it avoids the controversy around comparing circumcision to fgm. No one is going to disagree that ripping someone’s nails off is both pointless and harmful (I could be wrong though), so by comparing circumcision to that instead, I believe I can get the point across without clouding the discussion with additional controversy.

So I hope that the parallels were apparent to you, and that you get my point that a body part being “unnecessary” isn’t enough grounds to justify its arbitrary removal, or even tolerate it. That even if circumcision brings minor benefits, and even if its drawbacks are supposedly not so severe, that subjecting a child to it is absurd and cruel. That even if it is “not as bad as x horrible thing”, that it is still horrible enough to warrant vigilant opposition.

tl;dr, you probably wouldn’t bother to listen to my whole sales pitch about my removal of (perfectly healthy) fingernail service, so the justifications for foreskin removal services should seem equally as unpersuasive. And Fuck Dr Kellog and his shitty cereal, may he roll in his grave knowing that Tony the Tiger continues to inspire lust in the furry community and that schools are no longer segregated.

[atsukashii]

hey! for the event can I please request:

name x katsuki bakugou + she/her + ☀️ + sage green

thank you

the fragrance I smell, the warmth I feel as long as it lasts, as long as it lasts

✘ breaking news; pro hero dynamight tells a reporter to "go fuck yourself"... again.

✘ GENRE: fluff

✘ WARNINGS: aged up characters, pro hero katsuki,

✘ WORD COUNT: 1.2k

‘Pro Hero Dynamight has made social media into a blazing inferno today with his comments made to a reporter whilst he was on duty only a few days ago. Twitter is divided from his response about his private life with some people arguing that by becoming a pro hero, he volunteered up all privacy to be a symbol of peace, whilst others argue that as a person - a human being - he deserves the right to not have cameras shoved in his face.

Let us know your opinion in the comments below!

“What a crock of shit.” You grumble, closing your laptop lid and shoving the item off your stomach. The constant action of people heinously tearing each other apart for no apparent reason really grates on you, but of course you can’t let them know because that would just fuel the flames even more.

“Who the hell believes that privacy isn’t a given right to pro heroes? I’ll fight them.”

“Uh-huh,” comes a bored voice, and you clench your jaw as you tilt your head to the other end of the couch.

“I’m serious Katsuki.” You growl, and only then does your husband look up from the gauntlet in his hands that he’s fixing. Something about it felt off, was all he’d said as he dropped onto the couch next to you this morning on his rare day off. However, you have the feeling this rare day off wasn’t unusual, but a suggestion from his P.R team.

Katsuki’s crimson eyes gleam at you across the small distance, complete amusement in his gaze. “You’re going to fight them, like that?” You know he’s not hinting at the fact that you’re in your pyjamas at midday on a Thursday.

“I’m pregnant Katsuki Bakugou, not invalid. I can still throw hands if I want to.” Rolling his eyes, your husband abandons his support item onto the coffee table, before twisting to look back at you more.

“I’m not saying you’re an invalid you damned woman, I'm saying you can’t go punching every reporter that wants to talk shit.” He explains like it's the easiest thing in the world. But a simple knowing glance at you, along with a poke to his thigh with your feet has him grumbling. You knew him in high school, and you know that teenage Katsuki wouldn’t hesitate to blast someone if they did that back in the day.

“Don’t give me that look. You’re not fighting anyone.” Grabbing your sock covered foot and lowering it onto his lap, you instantly let out a groan as he thumbs the tender muscles of your ankles. Closing your eyes to ignore the victorious smirk that plagues his lips, you feel yourself melting into the couch.

“Considering I helped stop a shop lifter from the convenience store last week, your opinion on the matter is invalid Katsu.” You remind him, the end of your sentence coming out breathless as the pain that had been radiating from your spine for the past week finally dissipates. Thank goodness.

“Don’t remind me.” Carefully opening just one eye, you see the frown on your husband’s face as he continues to massage your aching limb. Yeah, he hadn’t been as ecstatic as you had when you’d called him on your way home. All you’d wanted was some onigiri from the family mart down the street, where you were on a first name basis with the owners. You couldn’t go to your regular Onigiri restaurant considering you were due next week and it was across the city, whilst the family mart was only two blocks away.

You'd been browsing the options, trying to decide whether having pickled plum filling was worth the reflux you knew you’d face for it later, when there was a commotion at the counter. As if it was fate, the isle that you stood in had been right by the front door, and as the crook tried to make a dash, you had simply placed your leg in his path, tripping the guy and allowing the owner enough time to keep him on the ground whilst you waited for police.

You’d felt like a real badass again, a feeling you’d lost a bit since you’d had to stop work to go on maternity leave.

“I know I taught you how to fight,” Katsuki interrupts your thoughts, his own voice sounding as exhausted as he looks. “But I had hoped you’d never have to use it.” Because yes, you weren’t a pro hero. You’d gone to U.A as a part of the support course, and had been the one to help him with his support items of your senior year, which had been how you two had officially met.

“But I didn’t have to use them, I just tripped the guy.” You said teasingly, hoping for a roll of his eyes, or even a scoff. But Katsuki doesn’t even look up from his lap where his hands lay still on your feet.

You immediately push yourself up to a seating position before shuffling across the couch towards your husband. Once you’re in reaching distance, you let your hand gently cup his cheek, gaining his attention once more. Your heart jerks painfully at the worry and concern glistening in his eyes, and it's all aimed at you. You knew you’d worried him with your lack of fear and habitual attitude to jump into all things head first. But maybe, being heavily pregnant, not telling him you were going out and getting in the path of possible danger was a bit too much for him. You can’t help but smile at Katsuki. What a softie.

“I’m alright Katsu, really.” Katuski blinks at you, as if bringing himself out of a deep thought and brings his own hand up to cup your cheek. You lean into the warmth, but hate the fact that you haven’t been able to hug him face first in months.

“I know. I’d have killed you if you’d gotten hurt.” He replies, and you let out a snort of laughter. “I love you, ya know,” You’re about to reply when there’s a sudden jerk from your abdomen and you hiss out as it feels as if it just used your body as a punching bag.

You’ve had many conversations about your daughter, and almost every theory you’ve ever had is that she’s going to come out as a miniature version of Katsuki. That is, if the constant battering of your organs is anything to go by. As if she’s trying to force herself out into the world, so she can take it on head first.

You can tell by the glint in Katsuki’s eyes that he both wants to laugh at you, but is also concerned due to the fact that you’re due any day.

“She’s just agreeing with me,” you explain, turning your body around so that your back is leaning against his chest. With a familiarity that is so soft it actually hurts your heart, Katsuki gently rests his hands against your protruding stomach, and it’s not long before she kicks again for her father’s enjoyment. You can’t see him, but you can feel the smile Katsuki presses against your shoulder.

“Agreeing with you about what?” He asks, pressing a delicate kiss where his head rests on your shoulder.

“That those damn reporters deserve to get hit.”

“Damned woman.”

✘ A/N: if said it before and i'll say it again, y'all can pry dad katsuki from my cold dead hands.

©️ 2021 all rights reserved to atsukashii, do not change, edit, translate, or repost any works on any platform.

[kachuuyaa]

— ELYSIAN’S FUGITIVES.

06072021 ; g.i oneshot , gn!reader , bsd!reader

genre ; angsty fluff ig i dunno???

includes ; WISP!CHUUYA MAKES HIS APPEARANCE :D mentions of death, gore, gods, chuuya being cute (He Squeaks!) chuuya and reader meant to be REAL, literally just a first meeting between aether n you Italics is Japanese

synopsis ; The punishment from the gods is to be sent to Elysian, then banished into a never-ending cycle of paranoia.

author's notes ; U FINALLY MEET AETHER. wisp!chuuya is the best thing I have ever written ever I was mentally squealing because oh my oiguoidsp[';][][21P]2;\.,sdmNXK

You couldn’t count the days you have roamed Teyvat, it has been too long since then. For 60 years (it was 60 years, wasn’t it? You don’t remember anymore), you have not crossed any country’s border, only listening to their seemingly endless musings. You have never been out in the sea, tensity and uneasiness forming in the pit of your stomach whenever so. However, being isolated from the land the gods rule upon, has earned you a title. Your name is being whispered as a warning or a legend like a scripture formed with the wind. Some were afraid of you, while some respected you. It was pathetic, really, how desperate these people were compared to those in Yokohama. There was no point in dwelling in the past, now, was there? Despite receiving unwanted attention by passersby, you paid no attention to those who whispered your name like a mantra, spouting vile, vulgar assumptions about you. You realized-- quickly-- that they only think for themselves, not for the benefit of others. Wouldn’t that be the source of their demise? Well, you don’t linger on trivial topics for too long, it’s only fair for you to care only about yourself in a world you don’t belong in (you know you belong here now, yet you felt as if Elysian was better than this place they call home).

You have heard of the outlander who caught the wind, saving a foreign nation he seemed to have been in once, only, and you have let the news flow from one ear to another. Who were you to care? No one should catch your attention in a world full of insatiable people. Each step made the grass crunch, making your way to the foot of Dragonspine. Chuuya followed suit, and he settled himself on your head. You figured out that he could shapeshift, probably his punishment as well, yet so far, he has only shifted into a bird and a wisp. His wisp form wasn’t as elegant as you may think, a small, hooded figure encased in smoke-colored clothing, resembling the coat he used to wear. On top, there was a small black X-shaped symbol in the middle of his chest. Around his small form were orange particles, that remind you vividly of Chuuya's ability. A little hat, one you were familiar with, was situated on top of his small head. It was the hat he was wearing during his time as a mafioso, you deduced as such. The tiny creature lets out small squeaks of content, nuzzling itself on your head; seems like he thought it was a good pillow. A chuckle of amusement escapes your lips, turning your head around to watch the scenery in front of you. Dragonspine was one of your favorite places to visit during your free time, snow piling on top of another, making the white mountain as beautiful as it is. However, you do not venture into Dragonspine, not wanting to risk your life for creatures who seem to always take your time.

As much as you hate to admit it, you have most likely killed more hilichurls than you ever killed back in Yokohama. The songs of relentless, snow-covered winds never fail to make your unease and worry falter, even for a moment. The glacial scenery of the mountain attracted your attention, especially your first visit here. A few snowflakes settled themselves on your face, melting due to the heat emitting from your body. If you had the chance, should you tell your friends about the scenery, they would love it too, wouldn't they? You know they would, however, how would you know so? They’re gone, and so is your attachment to anything but Chuuya. “Do you like the scenery, Chuchu?” soft taps on your head were his response, indicating that he was displeased with the nickname you gave him. He agreed nonetheless, sitting on the palm of your hand. He squirmed, looking for a more comfortable position, and stilled after a while.

Memories of the past have always plagued your mind, reminding you that you were alone, again. Despite the copious memories you have stored away, none will bring you back to the place you have regarded as your home. For once, you have felt safe, all the while knowing death follows you wherever you go. Death was the dark, hollow cloak you wore while walking the path of dread in your past life, hands coated with the blood of another, and your eyes held the burden you were forced to carry until the day you died. The amount of blood was enough to shatter the dreams children told you to believe in, you were holding on the thinnest thread, one soaked with blood, your blood, reminding you how much you have suffered and how you made others weak, on their knees, while keeping a straight face as you watch the life draining from their faces. You have learned that life was unfair, gods turning a blind eye to the generation you were put in, leading the people to be self-reliant, causing resentment and disrespect to be aimed at those who call themselves “gods”.

Did they even exist? You have heard, and read, tell of what the gods and goddesses have done to provide, to give, and to sacrifice. Did they give up? Were they satisfied with what they have gotten? Has their insatiable lust for approval and desire to fulfill their selfish, carnal desires quenched? Did they only long for what they have desired, using their power to prove themselves better among the world of mortals? Were they not the selfless, kind gods described in the books of old? Nevertheless, you had no respect for the divine. You only had yourself to depend on since the start. You controlled your own death, knowing that when you died, it was time. You could have stopped yourself from fading, though, but you were tired, you let it happen. And though you know that your death will be remembered, not in the history books, but in the Port Mafia, you will be forever remembered.

59 years have passed. There is no time to dwell in the past, all you have is the memories you swear to protect. Your fight with immortality has been futile, leaving you to bask in your own presence for 59 years. That is until Chuuya finally found you. And you? You found him. It wasn’t expected for you to know who he was, a mere spirit cursed by gods above to wander a world he was unfamiliar with. He was stripped of Arahabaki, leaving him with only his outermost ability, “For The Tainted Sorrow”. He didn’t mind, as well, Arahabaki resides within him, giving him a sense of dread, and leaving him with his identity that he can’t seem to solve. Arahabaki has forever stained him as blood stained your hands, giving him scars that will never leave him. In that life, and in the next. He had you, sweet, malevolent, outstanding you. Though he never voiced it out, he felt, well, complete, to say the least. And while feeling detached from not being completely human has affected him far too much, you were there to make him feel-- what did you make him feel, really? He can’t decipher his own feelings as his own identity. In all the years he has roamed this world as an insignificant wisp of the wind, he found himself tangled in another adventure with the “most insufferable partner aside from Dazai”.

Your footsteps were carried by the wind, walking to the City of Mondstadt, again, Chuuya on your shoulder, scanning the area for any enemies or the like. You were currently looking for food, choosing to shop in Mondstadt instead of catching wildlife. Each step has your coat moving from one side to another, boots making the grass crunch in every step. “Ne, Chuuya, do you want to buy pancakes from Mond?” you whispered, voice soft, only for Chuuya to hear. Said wisp only nods its small head, his little hood moving ever so slightly while he nods. Deciding that it would be best for him to rest, you put him in your breast pocket, his little head poking just a bit. Chuuya softly squeaked, nuzzling on the fabric, and opted to rest despite his unsaid protests. But before you could set foot onto the City Of Freedom, a high-pitched voice prevented you from doing so. “Hey!” they said, you whipped your head to the direction you heard it from, spotting a seemingly young-looking traveler, and a floating pixie-- wait.

Isn’t he the honorary knight? You thought to yourself, unconsciously cupping the pocket Chuuya resides in, feeling him squirm when he came in contact with your gloved palm. Instead of giving them a response, you simply stared at them, eyes glimmering with amusement. “Hi.” a simple, short greeting. Although you would prefer to ask the traveler some questions, that wouldn’t be necessary. You were able to decipher every detail easily, too easily, in fact. Aether, however, wasn’t fazed. He was well aware of how they described you, and how notorious you were due to appearance. Scoffing at the assumptions, he looked forward to meeting you. Perhaps he will look forward to his endeavors with you by his side, no? A star sent from Elysian would only brighten the mortal world, cursed with divine power and lonesome memories.

However, you did not know that a simple greeting exchanged on your first day of the meeting would bloom into something much more.

Ah, it seems that the show is starting once again, a different chapter, a different genre.

2021 © kachuuyaa. all rights reserved. do not steal and claim my work as your own.

[malfoymxnor]

𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

➤ pairing: draco malfoy x hufflepuff reader

➤ summary: every year, you bake christmas cookies for your friends. after you seeing a sad draco malfoy sitting alone, you can’t help but give him your last batch despite being enemies.

➤ words: 1.9k

➤ a/n: you don’t have to be in hufflepuff to relate to being y/n, i just wrote it this way! get ready for some major fluff y’all

It was finally the most wonderful time of the year, at least according to you: Christmas. Christmas always symbolized the happiest moments of your life. Your most cherished memories included sitting around the tree back home with your family and watching your family’s faces light up as they open presents. You always tried your best to spread that familiar joy to those around at Hogwarts.

That’s why, for the sixth year in a row, you planned to bake Christmas themed sugar cookies and hand them out to your large group of friends. This task seemed simple enough, and it was for your first couple years at the magical school. However, now your once close knit group of friends had grown tremendously. Now, it was practically a whole night’s work to bake these cookies on time.

That’s what led you to risk breaking Hogwarts’ very clear rules. Ever since the threat of war with You-Know-Who, it was strictly prohibited for any students to be wandering the corridors after dark. Seeing as you had no time after classes and assignments to bake and tomorrow would be the last day before winter break, you had no choice but to break the rules. It may be silly or childish to risk getting in severe trouble just to bake cookies, but disappointing your friends was not an option.

At least you’re a Hufflepuff and your common room was near the kitchens.

Not even 30 minutes after the sunset, you found yourself sneaking into the school’s kitchen and setting on your mission. You left the lights off, whispering “Lumos” and allowing your wand to be your source of light. You set your wand on one of the marble kitchen counters, getting out the bowls and ingredients you would need.

Time seemed to pass in a blur. You made it a point to make as little noise as possible. The last thing you needed after all was Professor Snape to find you in the kitchens. The thought of getting caught sends chills down your spine, nevertheless one of the professors you absolutely feared finding you.

You took out the largest bowl you could find in the cupboards and rolled up your yellow and black robe before beginning to work. This was a (Y/L/N)’s family recipe and didn’t need a written record of the recipe, it’s one you have been making with your parents since practically birth. You combined the flour, baking powder, and salt in the bowl, your thoughts practically running a mile a second as you worked.

You were aware that if this was any other witch or wizard baking, they would simply use magic. Maybe that was the smartest way to do this, especially with the need to get out of the kitchen as soon as possible to avoid punishment. The thought did cross your mind, but what was the fun in it? You adored magic in every way, but you also carried love in doing things the Muggle way sometimes. There was something so simple in baking a dessert from your own hands. It was perhaps like a potions class, except without Professor Snape sneering over your shoulder and telling you every mistake you’re making.

Next, you used a whisk to beat together some butter and sugar, eventually adding eggs and vanilla extract after the mixture was completely smooth. You added the dry ingredients to the wet, smiling to yourself as the dough formed into the exact consistency you needed for some tasty cookies.

You rolled the dough enough so it was a thin sheet that laid out in front of you, before cutting it with various shapes of cookie cutters. Your friends were definitely being spoiled this year, not that you minded, one of the greatest joys was surprising your friends with small gifts. In the end, there were sheets full of cookies shaped in trees, snowmen, gingerbread houses, presents. You even managed to find a cookie cutter in the shape of a mug filled with Butterbeer from Hogsmeade.

While you baked the cookies and prepared the icing, you couldn’t stop your thoughts from wondering yet again. You made a mental list of all the friends you would need to be sure to see before the day ends. There was the Golden Trio, Ginny, Luna, several friends from Hufflepuff.

One person you were so sure that was not getting cookies was the one and only Draco Malfoy. You truly did not hate a single soul, but you held a distaste for the young man. You weren’t sure why, but ever since Year 1, he has set it out to make it a nightmare for the entire Hufflepuff house. He often called your house an embarrassment to Hogwarts, the weakest house by far. How a person could be filled with so much hate shocked you.

A soft ding pulled your thoughts away from the platinum blond, signaling that they were done and needed to be pulled out of the multiple ovens Hogwarts had provided. You let them cool to the side while you began to work on the frosting. Your mind couldn’t help but focus on Malfoy, for whatever reason. A part of you strongly disliked him, but a part of you have always wondered why he acts the way he does. You’re aware his family is one of the most powerful magic families in the world, but that doesn’t make him better than you or any of your friends. So, what reason could he think of to justify his behavior?

Time seemed to blur after the cookies had cooled down enough for you to decorate them. Ever since you were a child, this was always your favorite part of the process. You had the chance to be creative with how you designed the cookie. It truly brought the cookie to life, it seemed. Your years of decorating experience has allowed you to really master the craft, creating unique designs that only a professional baker may be able to pull off.

At the end of the process, you had multiple dozens of bags filled with cookies of all shapes and sizes, labeled neatly with the recipient’s name printed on them. You filled a wooden basket with the bags, finally allowing yourself to breathe. It was a close call, but you managed to bake the cookies before dawn. You ended the night with flour covered hands, but you hardly minded. You took a moment to look at the time on a clock near the oven and a soft gasp escaped your lips.

Was it really 7:45 in the morning? You had Potions at 8, which was halfway across the castle. If you had any hope of getting there on time, you had to leave now.

With a quick flick of your wand, you set the kitchen in order. It looked as if no one was in there the entire time. You rushed out of the kitchens towards the main corridor, down the steps towards the potions classroom.

The day seemed to pass in a blur as well. Perhaps it was because it was the last day before winter break, but it seemed as if you blinked and you were already at dinner with your friends. You decided today to sit with Harry, Ron, and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. It wasn’t unusual for you to do so, however, most of the time you sat at the Hufflepuff table. The only reason you tended to avoid the Gryffindor table like the plague was because it was right next to the Slytherin table. You refused to let Malfoy ruin Christmas for you.

You handed bags out to the three friends in front of you, laughing to yourself as Ron abandoned his chicken leg to practically tear up the delicate cookie bag. Harry thanked you for the desserts and stored them in his pockets, while Hermione complimented you on the fascinating designs you made with the frosting.

As you talked to Hermione, you felt a pair of eyes on you, although you couldn’t pinpoint where from. Your eyes broke from Hermione’s and glanced around the room, until they landed on a boy sitting at the Slytherin table.

You immediately recognized him as Draco Malfoy due to the infamous hair color. He sat in his black and emerald school robes, his eyes wondering about the room as he sat alone. It was quite a strange sight, he was the leader of his usual friend group in fact. However, today, it was as if that friend group disappeared in front of his very eyes. He sat with his cheek leaning against his pale hand, sadness apparent in his icy gray eyes. Once he realized he had been caught staring, his eyes darted back to his lap, where he had to pretend to read one of the many books in the library.

Perhaps it was the Hufflepuff in you, but you felt immediate sympathy for him. You hardly consider him an acquaintance, let alone a friend, but it was hard for you to watch someone in despair and not do something to cheer them up. Without even thinking about how this would look or any of the backlash you may face with your friends, you took the last batch of cookies you made just for yourself and made your way to the Slytherin table.

Seating yourself right across from the Slytherin Prince, you slid the bag of cookies across the table to him. His eyes rose to yours as he realized he was no longer alone.

“Draco.” You said softly, biting your lip. Being around someone this infamous tended to make you nervous, much more than you thought. You eventually managed to bring yourself to make eye contact. You could have melted into those eyes and you would not have known.

He raised his eyebrow, a bit confused as to why you were sitting in front of him with cookies on the table. “Y/N?” was all he could manage to spit out.

“I, uhm..” You shook your head slightly, trying to steady your heartbeat and remain focus on the mission. “I was sitting with my friends and noticed you were alone. Every year I make cookies for my friends, I had an extra bag and thought maybe it could cheer you up.”

For a moment, Draco forgot any sense of despair he had about becoming a Death Eater due to the pressure of his family, and the mission he had been charged with. It was a stupid bag of Christmas cookies, but it may have been the kindest thing anyone could have done for him. He felt himself sitting up straighter, a small smirk coming to his face. He felt as if he could trust the stranger in front of him, for whatever reason.

“Thank you.” He looked up at you once again, before tearing a corner from the page in his book and pulling out a quill. He wrote down a couple lines and folded it up, handing it to you. “I’ve never received a gift that came with no cost to me. Please, look at this when you have the chance, alright?”

You took the paper and nodded, not sure what to do with the feelings coming over you. Before you could say anything more, Draco stood from his seat and gathered his things. He took a bite from a snowman shaped cookie and with a smile on his face, nodded to you and walked away.

Unfolding the paper in your hands, it read:

The Malfoy Manor 

Wiltshire, England

Write to me this break. I’m intrigued.

Malfoy

[viviae]

The Red Plague: An Analysis

Ok, I’m to preface this that I am not at ALL a student of medicine or science I am just a humble blogger who really likes diseases, literary analysis, and the science behind death. This will also be a STUPIDLY long post so I am letting you all live by putting it behind a readmore this time

This goes without saying but there is a content warning to this. I’m talking about death, stages of decay, rotting, corpses, vomit, and other gross medical stuff. There will be NO images however. I subjected myself to viewing those images and I will not condemn you all to view them. 

I’m going to start this off making sure everyone is on the same page and post an image from the art book about the Red Plague itself

So let’s start with the canonical facts about the plague first

Average life expectancy was 3-7 days once symptoms show, Averages are also liars which means it could’ve taken a little bit more than 7 days or under 3 days to die. 

Spread by the plague beetles, exact method of transfer is unknown but Julian was force fed one and contracted the plague however they are safe to keep in containment.

Plague beetles also infected nonhuman objects like the water supply which is shown as a thick ichor. This ichor no longer possesses infectious properties at the time of the story

Julian believed that it had to do with a corruption in the blood hence the usage of leeches 

The Lazarus started as a containment center before becoming a crematorium, meaning people believed that it was spread from contact or things like that

HOWEVER This is not the first appearance of the plague as it would show up at locations Lucio stayed for too long but no note if it spread from these locations. 

It’s not a disease, its a curse.

So, this is one nasty plague on our hands. Most diseases that are this lethal would never be able to spread as much as it did unless it could spread from corpse contact or through other means like a carrier. I think that it could be spread through a combination of both which would add an additional need for cremation. 

Corpse Disposal & Spreading

Historically during plagues you would simply toss bodies into mass graves or ‘plague pits’. This would be, substantially, easier than what they do in Vesuvia. Cremation is not an easy process and is an art form. The heat needed for a cremation alone is incredibly hot and needs special methods to be contained. Not to mention the tedious cleaning process to make sure ashes don’t damage the heat element. So you are telling me that Vesuvia... went through the process of rowing away their dead to the middle of a lake to do mass cremations because it was the easiest? Yes they would’ve run out of grave space a while ago but no one is saying they can’t go make a plague pit out in the woods for half the work.

Now granted, I understand the imagery of making Asra wade through bodies of rotting corpses to find the apprentice’s bloated corpse is uh,,, graphic. Or making us stumble upon an open plague pit of bones in the woods with you LI is not what most people call romantic. (you’re welcome for that image) So they could’ve just made mass cremations on a separate island for tone reasons but that’s BORING.

Not a lot of diseases are actually capable of surviving in dead body simply because when we die our bodies lose the necessary high heats for them to multiply and survive. But this isn’t a disease in a traditional sense, its a curse to Lucio. And this is Lucio we are talking about, some one who is famously afraid of death and dying, which was grafted by a demon of pestilence who is obsessed with worms (cough maggot symbolism and death by disease cough). So I propose that the plague is spread in addition to plague beetles but by dead bodies themselves. This would put additional pressure on proper corpse disposal and the need for cremation. This fact would also explain why plague doctors were present at the boats leading to the Lazarus instead of simple plague carters (rowers?) as doctors would probably have to keep a closer eye on proper disposal of bodies.

As for how I think the beetles themselves spread the plague, I think it’s probably in a similar way as to how Lyme Disease is spread. I can’t name any disease that is spread by beetles themselves off the top of my head but ticks are pretty similar to beetles (I am not an entomologist). Lyme disease is spread by infected ticks biting into the hosts skin and regurgitating its stomach contents that includes the bacterium for the disease. 

This would explain why Julian got the plague pretty awful real quick. He consumed all of the plague beetle’s contents and Lucio didn’t have to try and force a beetle to bite Julian, which would’ve given Julian time to fight back. This is also working with the fact Lucio got bit by a plague beetle when running from Morga in his tale. He most likely contracted the plague, or perhaps he contracted the curse then and later on got re bit, in that bite. This would also explain the ichor that infects the water in the south end. Beetles are significantly larger than ticks, and so they might have a need to empty their stomach contents more and its more waste produced. 

Symptoms and Inspirations

The Red Plague is obviously, influenced by the Bubonic Plague in terms of symptoms and Tuberculous in treatment. I will list some of the common symptoms of Black Plague and signs and be comparing these to the Red Plague. I cannot stress enough that I do not have any knowledge in medicine but I don’t think the dev’s are all doctors so we are on even ground.

There are generally speaking three types of plagues; Bubonic (Most common type of The Black Plague and mainly targets your lymphatic system), Pneumonic (When the Plague enters and infects the lungs), and Septicemic (When the plague enters the blood stream, either form can lead to Septicemic)

Bolded Symptoms are what are obvious symptoms the Red Plague has taken from these three variations of plague. Italic is Lucio specific. 

High Fevers

Chills

Headache

Muscle Pain

Weakness

Seizures

Swollen black lymph nodes known as Buboes (Bubonic)

Internal Bleeding (Septicemic)

Gangrene (Septicemic)

Shock (Septicemic)

Vomiting Blood (Bubonic & Septicemic)

Coughing Blood & Mucus (Pneumonic)

Shortness of breath (Pneumonic) 

The Red Eyes

By far the most obvious symptom of the plague and its trademark. Consider this the equivalent of Buboes to the black plague. This is the first obvious symptom that marks you for dead and probably one of the first symptoms to show after a possible resting phase. 

Apparently it takes each eye individually as seen with Julian or it may not take both? The stage we see Julian in isn’t the clearest but I’m assuming he was rather early on with a pretty serious case. 

It’s also a debate of what exactly is going on with the red stringy bits under neath the eyes. For the sprite models it appears to be veins under the eyes that have been aggravated. While in the concept art above it has a more liquid and viscous look which is probably blood. And in Julian’s CG of him dying of the plague he has no marks around his eyes. So I’m saying its a fun combo of all of the above.

Essentially I think that the plague is causing the blood vessels in the eyes to pop and do serious damage. There can also be a foreign growth to occur behind the eyes or just magical nonsense, doing additional damage to the veins surrounding the eyes and cause bleeding from putting stress on the veins. 

The Arms and Lower Extremities

Ok, remember how I talked about Lucio’s fear of death and how its incredibly likely that the plague is manipulating his fear? In death there are various stages of decay, and different functions occur at each stage. And one of these functions is Livor Mortis. 

Livor Mortis is when your blood cells rupture out of your veins and die. These dead blood cells sink down to your body based off of gravity where they settle. This is seen as a purple color on the skin based on gravity, normally the back. This can be disrupted by any disruption to the body, but depending on time you are likely to receive lighter marks based on its previous position. 

What I think is going on all over the body is veins are rupturing and the body is going through an extreme form of living Livor Mortis. Just that it’s in red and not purple because this is the “Red Plague” and not the purple plague. And due to the patients still being alive when Livor Mortis is occurring it simply pools into the extremities instead of one specific location, with the fingers and bottom of the foot being the most severe. To add to the veins popping suddenly the subtle bruising through origin points to where the red vein-y look begins remind me of my own experience of having four veins burst in my arm. 

Julian had reason to believe he could use leeches to treat the plague and in typical plague doctor fashion of “They were right but not exactly” he was on the right track! Using leeches to drink the settled and dead blood would be beneficial to the patient. As likely leaving these areas to accumulate dead blood would put it at serious risk of rot, since maggots first grow on open wounds and areas affected by Livor Mortis. 

Julian might not have been curing the plague but what he was probably doing is preventing a lot of people from developing gangrene and needing amputations. A beneficial skill for a previous combat medic to utilize and what might have drawn additional attention to him. Julian’s uses of leeches could also explain why Lucio does not have any of these red marks since Julian is his personal doctor and Lucio would spare no expense for his treatment. 

Lucio’s Unique Symptoms 

Portia’s route mentions that due to Lucio’s longer surviving time he developed unique symptoms. We don’t know much details about this besides he was extra miserable and was confined to his bedroom most the time. From my provided list above I think that generally speaking the Red Plague is a combination of Bubonic + Septicemic plagues.

However, Pnuemonic plagues were considered especially deadly, but rarer. Lucio is described as having a cough when he has the plague and generally a wheezy voice. It wouldn’t be odd to think the plague had spread into his lungs due to the increase longevity he had. 

There is a dramatic irony in Lucio losing his lungs to sickness as well. Morga tells us about how when Lucio was very young he almost drowned and that instilled a fear of death in him at a young age. He’s also a man with a lot of stamina who can run in the freezing cold carrying a fully grown apprentice on his shoulder or run away from Morga who also possesses a lot of energy. Lucio has trained his lungs to be stronger more so than the average person, and now with his downfall he loses them. 

It goes along with his general want of having a new body as well. You can rebuild muscle mass although hard, but recovering from illnesses that target your lungs? You’ll almost never get back to the same degree you previously were. 

The imagery of the dead is also present in the animal itself used to spread the plague. Although the beetle comes from Lucio’s tribe, beetles play a role in decomposition. Beetles like to come after the body has been nearly completely rotten, after the maggots and wasps consume most of the dead flesh beetles come in and eat the scraps. Beetles are also used in skeletonizing items, one example I think of off my head is a man who had his amputated foot skeletonized by beetles for keeping.  So these beetles are coming in and spreading a plague that forces the body to go through stages of decay while living, for their own food. Just like Lucio’s tribe came in and slaughtered other tribes for their own need to eat.

The plague was handcrafted to torture Lucio for his inability to finish his end of the deal. That’s why it uses imagery of dead bodies, it steals Lucio’s lungs from him, and why even the dead can cause severe damage. 

Of course this is all my own theory and analysis of the plague but thank you for reading all of this. 

[somesaycosmo]

laurence, the first vicar - an analysis

hi! this is future marie, when i'm going back through and finalizing my draft of this post. this was originally meant to just be an analysis of laurence's song, but it turned into more than that, so just bear with it!

"oh look it's my favorite boss soundtrack in soulsborne! thankfully, bloodborne is a very simple game with straightforward lore, and the lyrics of its tracks are similarly straightforward, so there's not much to analyze here." -a quote from an alternate universe marie who was blessed with a game that didn't give her frenzy

"bloodborne's tracks have lyrics?" you might ask - and yes, in fact, they do! many of them have choral lyrics in latin, including mr laurence "i forgot the sacred adage" lastname's track here.

before we start, please listen to the song, if only because it's very good

this post is using the translated lyrics from this bloodborne wiki, while taking some liberties with the interpretation based on the game's lore. i do not know latin, but if anyone does, i'd love for them to hit me up. i'm also going to specifically tag @rococospade-main, both to shout them out for being great to discuss bloodborne lore with (it's where i got the idea to write this post)

as always, lore starts below the line

so the song starts with 4 lines, as follows

Children, know that if you will abide by the sacred rite with great commitment There will be a reward through the Holy Blood You will be rewarded with the hidden Holy Blood Or, maybe I shall lose my humanity through the Holy Blood

already starting off strong with the "questioning one's faith" vibes, eh, larry?

"children" might be in reference to actual children, or it might be the thing priests do, where they're called "father" and stuff (can you tell i'm not christian?) with laurence in this case being the "father" and the disciples of the church being his "children"

the reward from the holy blood is, of course, ascension, which we all know everyone from byrgenwerth strived for, because they're losers. "hidden holy blood" might be in reference to ebrietas bein all locked up in the chalice dungeons?

"maybe i shall lose my humanity through the holy blood" is, based on how early it is in the song, likely about laurence looking forward; loss of humanity is seen as a good thing, because it means ascension. the dramatic irony of this is of course obvious, considering the song plays when we're beating the shit out of laurence's fallen and bestial form - because loss of humanity can also mean other things, it turns out.

We honor you with the Blood Yet you judge this as blasphemy You are obsessed with this mystery And you shall be overcome by bestiality

We honor you with the Blood Yet you judge this as blasphemy We are hindered by this mystery Water does not achieve success

now laurence is speaking to the gods instead of to his followers. "we honor you with blood / yet you judge this as blasphemy" is likely him pleading to the gods. the description of the defiled chalice reads, "Curses are caused by inciting the anger of the Great Ones, and used to hex others." this paints a picture of the gods as somewhat vengeful; it makes sense that the beastly scourge, then, would be hypothesized to be a plague cast upon humanity for some sin they've committed, and laurence would know best what exactly that sin is.

"you are obsessed with this mystery / and you shall be overcome by bestiality" seems out of place in the rest of this section, given it's the only one that refers to humanity as "you," but i've taken this as it being the gods replying to laurence in the song, with the mystery likely being "how to ascend to godhood". this is the blasphemy you have committed, they say, and you shall be overcome by bestiality

"we are hindered by this mystery" once again, we're talking from laurence's perspective. firstly, laurence for the first time admits that obsession with ascension might not be so great, actually.

"water does not achieve success" this could be interpreted as talking about the whole "great bodies of water are often bulwarks" thing discussed in the lake and sea runes, laurence sort of saying "protecting ourselves from the truth does nothing to help us ascend," with water, effectively, being "safety." to go further, in my personal interpretation, this is more about the comparison of blood and water. you know that old saying, "blood is thicker than water"? that came to mind immediately while reading these lyrics, given the constant talking about blood in the song (and in the game). perhaps here laurence is comparing water to blood with water, water being "safety" and blood being "success" (ascension). to reference the item description for the white church set, "They believe that medicine is not a means of treatment but rather a method for research, and that some knowledge can only be obtained by exposing oneself to sickness." this will come up later.

By the Gods, friend Be afraid By the Gods, friend The Blood Be afraid You are right to

this is familiar! this could be willem speaking, this could be laurence speaking to someone else, or this could be laurence speaking to himself (my writer's brain imagines him muttering this quietly to himself in despair as his mental health and questioning of his faith declines) - due to "you are right to [fear the blood]," i lean towards him talking to himself as if talking to willem, perhaps wishing he had actually feared the old blood, or saying that willem is better off for doing so. regardless, it is incredibly reminiscent of the sacred adage ("fear the old blood" etc etc we all know it by heart at this point), and is likely supposed to be that.

It will be a majestic festivity By the Holy Blood So come, this sweet wine O defiled juice (this has to mean "wine" or "drink" i refuse to believe laurence would refer to the holy blood as a juice. i will not allow it)

this one, oddly, seems to indicate a toneshift - i would argue it's a result of his spiraling mental state. throughout the song he's questioning his faith and his actions, chanting his old mentor's sacred adage to himself; his life up to this point is a life of success while the cure and path to ascension he was peddling to yharnam turns them into horrific beasts. so he ends up doubling down on the religious fervor he started this endeavor with. this delves more into headcanon territory, so bear with me for a second:

have you ever thought about why laurence drops the beast's embrace rune?

laurence, the first vicar, the first cleric beast, drops the rune that allows you to enter a state of controlled beasthood whenever you want (provided you use a beastly weapon, of course). isn't that odd? shouldn't he drop something that, like, increases the amount blood vials heal you? maybe super duper extra special communion +6? why would he drop that rune, of all things, especially when the game already has a named character they could've put in to drop it (that being irreverent izzy)?

let's look at the item description.

After the repeated experiments in controlling the scourge of beasts, the gentle "Embrace" rune was discovered.

When its implementation failed, the "Embrace" became a forbidden rune, but this knowledge became a foundation of the Healing Church.

now i am not necessarily going to suggest that laurence dreamed up the beast's embrace rune himself - it could make sense, but that isn't necessary for the rest of what i'm about to say, which is this: the last part of the song is laurence giving into beasthood voluntarily.

perhaps he believed so strongly in the blood of ebrietas taking him to ascension that he decided beasthood must be it, must be the next step for humanity; perhaps, in a final move of desperation, he tried to control beasthood by experimenting on himself with this rune; or perhaps he had already imbibed so much of the old blood that he couldn't control his need to spill the blood of others.

personally, i lean toward the second interpretation. let's look at the description of laurence's (human) skull:

Skull of Laurence, first vicar of the Healing Church. In reality he became the first cleric beast, and his human skull only exists within the Nightmare.

The skull is a symbol of Laurence's past, and what he failed to protect. He is destined to seek his skull, but even if he found it, it could never restore his memories.

firstly, i'd just like to point out the irony in the statement "he is destined to seek his skull"; he spends his human life seeking ascension, and when he achieves metamorphosis, he is cursed to spend that form trying to find his humanity again, mindless, lost in a nightmare.

secondly, and more to the point, let's look at the line "a symbol of laurence's past, and what he failed to protect." examining this item for its symbolism is fairly clear - it's a relic of laurence's humanity, and that's exactly what he failed to protect, the humanity of himself and others. this description leads me to believe he wanted to protect humanity, but failed.

a lot of interpretations of him have him as this truly evil person who was just deceiving the city of yharnam for his own personal gain, but honestly, i don't buy that. that's not what bloodborne is about. i mean bloodborne is and can be about a lot of things, and i could ascribe dozens of basic thematic interpretations of it off the top of my head, but characterization that simple doesn't fit bloodborne (and, frankly, it's not tragic enough for miyazaki).

so, with all that combined, why do i believe that laurence branded himself with beast's embrace in an attempt to further research on the control of beasthood, so as to protect humanity? well, to go back to an item description from earlier, some knowledge can only be obtained by exposing oneself to sickness.

thank you for reading.

[xendrassk]

This is a redo of my work from December. So, we’re almost to the fireside chat portion of the show, lol.

In this scenario, After Nova scolds Yelena for sowing seeds of discord during a serious situation, Yelena spills all of Nova’s hidden truths, at which Nova was shocked that Yelena even knew this much. Yelena said she was surprised at first that Ritterblut was behind the Walls, as they existed up until about 100 years ago against the Eldian empire. As it would turn out, Ritterblut was a nuisance to the Eldian empire. Paranoia plagued the king, as a result Ritterblut became the reason the Ackermans were made. They were a successful deterrent to Ritterblut and others who were against the empire. It was also revealed that the Tybur family and its branch, the Manfreds were in disagreement over 100 years ago at the end of the great Titan war. The two Noble families separated and that is when the Manfreds took what remained of Ritterblut to Paradis. Nova is a Manfred by blood. None of Nova’s comrades knew she came from the Underground. None of them know she was an assassin. The warrior unit was aware only because Nova shared her secret with Reiner back when they were both cadets. Nova is ashamed of these facts that were revealed. Yelena decided to go for a low-blow and implied that Nova trusted her enemy with her secret and not her comrades or even her departed brother Johän and what he would possibly do to her(given he was a member of the Survey Corps at the time) that’s a bridge too far. Nova will not allow for the memory of her brother to be sullied by someone like Yelena. Nova doesn’t care what she is labeled as at this point, Johän is not to be involved in whatever crimes she’s done.

(Ritterblut was a small group of assassins within the Underground city of Wall Sina. Nova was a nameless child back then and on her own due to neglect. When she was 7 years old, she stole an item thinking it was food but whoever was chasing her, the item seemed important. The pursuit ended when the enigma fell their death. She soon found herself surrounded by shady figures. She only had 2 choices given to her: Join or Die. The group is incredibly secretive. Training is brutal and discipline is swift and without mercy. All the members have code names. ‘Skuld’ was Nova’s name at the time. Each member has a death mark symbol scarred onto skin in the middle of their backs. Skuld[Nova] was a “Beobachter”[watcher]within the ranks. There are also “Beworhners”[Dwellers], and Guillotines, which are the masters in the group. They had many steps to reach a single goal no matter how long it took: To kill the founder of the throne; despite not knowing its true meaning.)

[bigmeatymudcrabchitins]

A not-so-brief overview of my Skyrim Dova OCs bc i need to scream to the digital void about my ideas

Freyora Lind, more commonly known by her strange alias “Bjorne Icepick”

A Nord-eventually-turned-werewolf who orphaned during the Great War and taken in by a Dunmeri mercenary whose residence was in Windhelm’s Gray Quarter. Grew up in a cramped boarding house setting among desperate mercenaries of varying backgrounds. Many of them would all come and go, but there was always some sort of a familial bond between them all.

From a young age she got in a lot of fights against people who insulted her for living in the Gray Quarter among the dark elves. Eventually she took a fight too far and was jailed for murder around 14, but was broken out shortly after by a band of masked vampires. Turns out some of her mercenary comrades unwittingly caught vampirism during a contract to clear out a vampire den and had to skip town, but not before ensuring one of their own wasn’t left to rot.

Lived in Cyrodil for about 15 years, but returned to Skyrim pursuing rumors surrounding a cure to vampirism, as her adoptive father would be nearing the end of his elven lifespan and had wished to die a normal death.

Seeing as she was literally a fugitive, and her long-belated parents were somewhat renowned for their battlefield prowess, she took on a false identity. AND an act to match it.

She’ll eat raw meat, chase prey with swords instead of using a bow like a normal person, harp about irrational conspiracy theories, and more. Everyone’s foul reactions to her outlandish act are plainly hilarious to her and only encourage her to act even stranger.

The alias “Bjorne Icepick” was simply the most ridiculous name she could think of.

Not the most morally outstanding. Besides drunken brawling, she’ll steal from anyone who angers her, even if it’s things she literally won’t ever need such as all the goblets in a household. It’s the pettiness that counts. “Try drinking your damn high-end wine now, jackass.”

Calls Dwarven Automatons “Gundams.” Including she herself, no one knows what that means.

Joins the Companions out of homesickness and a desire to fill in a gap that leaving home left.

Hasn’t bothered curing herself of lycanthropy because her whole schtick is being incredibly resourceful, and that includes using any means of power necessary. Still doesn’t fancy Hircine’s Hunting Grounds as her desired afterlife, though.

As her journey goes on, however, her lightheartedly eccentric face starts to fall off as a number of events push her to begin to question the legitimacy of her actions up until that point.

Some of which include the eventual death of her adoptive father (and how she was indirectly responsible for it even if it was what he wanted), Delphine’s ultimatum, the civil war as a collective, learning the tragic history behind the Falmer and the original Companions’ role in it, and killing of Vyrthur (no matter how much he genuinely deserved it).

She grows disgusted by herself down to the core. She takes to skooma to cope, and starts to be plagued by serious skooma-induced side effects. She ends up shutting herself away from all her responsibilities and distancing herself from her friends.

Does she get better? Maybe. I haven’t thought up anything past this point lol

Moureneris Alta

A very, VERY ancient vampiric snow elf, (though it’s notable she was born a considerable amount of time after the razing of Sarthaal)

Survived many atrocities. Stayed in isolation with a band of vampires for countless years out of sheer disgust for the nature of the sapient races. (I’ll explain her full story some other time. It’s pretty complicated)

She was abducted from her isolated lifestyle by a certain person i’ll talk about later. She managed to free herself south of Skyrim, and uh, walks right into that Imperial ambush. The rest is history.

Super ignorant to modern society as a result of centuries of isolation. Exploited for comedic relief. (“What in the name of Oblivion is a Cyrodilic Empire? Are you messing with me? And please, how does levitation magic simply get outlawed by this hypothetical Empire? What are you to do when you fall down a crevice? Just... let yourself perish? How degrading.)

She reintegrated herself into society with vengeance in mind under the belief that all humans are savage bloodlusting murderers who had to answer for their treachery. (And she was royally angry there was no Dwemer left to spite, but partially satisfied at the same time). But she grows conflicted after being shown genuine kindness, even as early as being freed from her binds in Helgen.

Subsequently has a very muddled redemption arc. Queue Dragonborn hero stuff

She has impaired vision, but she cultivated detect life magic to aid her in daily life and combat (think Hyakkimaru from Dororo ‘19 and his soul detection or Toph Beifong from ATLA and her seismic sense). At her peak, she can detect life from about a kilometer away.

She can just barely read, but only if she holds the text incredibly close to her face, not to mention her Cyrodilic lessons were left unfinished after her abduction, making reading a very taxing process. Weary travelers are often spooked at the sight of a floating, ghastly looking elven woman with her nose pressed up against crossroad signs, and it has become somewhat of an urban legend.

Isn’t as nearly as skilled with detecting the dead and tenses up in burial crypts or around other vampires for that reason. Unfortunately, being the Dragonborn and all, she finds herself in a lot of crypts...

When questioned about her background due to her unique appearance: “Oh, yeah. My mother was one of those mer from the east. You know the ones. Dark elves, I think? And my father was one of those er, tall elv- no, sorry, HIGH elves. Yeah. They both died in a big fire or something though. It was horrible. I can’t get the noxious smell or the deafening screams out of my head. Good talk, but never ask me about that again.”

Queue sheltered old immortal antics: “Wow, you’re THAT old? Enlighten me on how it felt witnessing the fall of the Dwemer. Or perhaps the rise of Tiber Septim’s Empire. The Gates of Ob-“ “Oblivion if I know. I lived in someone’s basement for thousands of years. And I still don’t know what everyone means by Empire. You all are messing with me, aren’t you? That really annoys me.”

She ultimately returns to faith in Auri-El and makes it her life’s purpose to help the Betrayed find peace, as well as to seek out any remaining snow elf groups. Probably good friends with Gelebor or something.

Had a crush on Serana. We all know how THAT went. Damned temples.

Was originally gonna spiral into a much darker corruption arc (another ATLA comparison being Jet or Hama) but I just felt bad for her. Moureneris can have a little found peace. As a treat.

That’s her preliminary design made. I’ll need a mod to properly play her, because that right there was made by choosing Dunmer as her race. But I can’t do that. I’m on console, and while I got the Steam port a month ago, my PC’s stone age specs can’t handle Skyrim yet and I’ll need to wait until I can afford a better graphics card (thanks economic inflation)

Alexandre Armasi, jokingly nicknamed Alexandre the Curious

A complete and unapologetic export of my character from a dead and unfinished DND campaign. Except there are no Aasimar in Skyrim, so he’s half Altmer half Bosmer. And his initial last name was Armas but I thought Armasi suited his Skyrim counterpart more, as subtle a change it is.

He’s mainly Bosmer in appearance and constitution, save for his hair and eyes, which are more similar to that of his Altmeri father’s.

I can’t really export his original backstory though because the campaign wouldn’t translate well into TES lore at all.

He’s a writer who came wandering into Skyrim in search of inspiration. While he mainly writes dramatic fables, he wanted to divert his focus to crafting his own bestiary and herbal compendium surrounding Skyrim’s fauna and flora. The ones at home are simply too vague to him!

He’s very altruistic, wishing to spread cheer wherever he goes, through the art of song (even though he was a cleric in DND and not a bard. My bad.) However, many of his verses are just blatant self promotions of his published fables.

But he’s too naive for his own good. Dangerously so. In fact, he says what’s on his mind with little forethought, with little grasp on the consequences of his actions, which lands him in lots of trouble. “I don’t favor him myself, but you guys kill people over Talos worship? That’s not very cool. A bit scary, if you ask me.” or “A Stormcloak rebel? Didn’t your leader kill a bunch of Reachmen rebels years back, or so I’ve heard. By the divines that’s not a man I’d make a symbol of nonconformity.”

He’s also insatiably curious. The type to ACTUALLY shove alchemic ingredients in his mouth with no knowledge of their properties, experiment with dangerous rune spells, throw rocks at pressure plates, and more. Needless to say he’s very accident prone.

Doesn’t know common curse words. People exploit this for laughs. Think that episode of Spongebob.

Everyone is a little baffled that HE of all people is the prophesied Dragonborn of legend. This agonizingly imbecilic writer who has absentmindedly wandered into burial crypts, troll dens, bandit forts, and more, too busy juggling his manuscripts to pay attention to his surroundings.

His past doesn’t exactly reflect his outlook on life. His mother and father fought in the Great War aligned with the Imperials despite their elven background. Both managed to live to see the war’s conclusion, but his father vanished without a trace shortly after, and it seems his mother knows something she won’t tell him.

With plenty of exposure to bad influences, his innocence is slowly lost throughout the course of his journey, and his altruism begins to grow twisted. But nevertheless, he maintains his jovial, social persona, except this time with much darker undertones. Kinda like a creepy dentist or something.

Whoops. He winds up becoming a feared Dark Brotherhood assassin. (Haha get it “Innocence Lost”???) He somehow deluded himself into thinking that the life of an assassin was the right thing to do. But he’s a funky little guy so he gets a pass for his heinous crimes against society

[hullabalooshoneybee]

IDV — MY ANALYSIS OF ANN’S LORE & DEDUCTIONS (W/ THEORIES)

CW: death, throw up, murder, illness/plague, abuse/harassment, religion (Christianity), (implied to be forced) conversion, brief self harm mention (only one quote)

written by @hullabalooshoneybee

        When she was a little girl, Ann was diagnosed with an illness. Whether she was born with it or developed it is unknown, but the disease caused her eyes to change color to a piercing yellow— like a cat. Coincidentally, a plague had struck her region at the same time she was diagnosed (or at least developing the physical symptoms of her illness).

        It was stated by the Identity V devs that the contagion and her illness were not the same. In addition to this, the symptoms from the plague listed in the first deduction ( “... vomiting, spasms, high fever, etc.” ) also prove they are not the same illness since Ann was never mentioned to of demonstrated these symptoms. Regardless, those who knew of Ann’s illness had assumed the diseases were one and the same; blaming her and accusing her of being the one to bear the regional pestilence.

        Bear in mind that Ann’s backstory is based around the Black Death and the Salem Witch Trials, meaning majority of the logic behind the diseases were roped back to the Christian God. Because of this, Ann’s neighbors had accused her of being the “eye of evil” or the devil’s eye, saying the epidemic was not a punishment from God as the Bubonic Plague had been, but a curse brought about from (a ‘possessed’) Ann herself.

        However, young Ann and her family were shown to be of a separate faith; when her mother fell ill in the second deduction, Ann’s father had prayed to a cat-shaped idol on a shrine. Shrines are regarded as holy due to their associations with divinity, a sacred person or relic, which implies that Ann’s family had worshipped a deity other than the Christian God (considering the Christian God has no known affiliations to cats.) Since those of other faiths were notoriously shamed and harassed by Christians, this could also be a supporting role as to why Ann was blamed for the pandemic.

        In the second deduction, Ann is detailed to be crying at a woman’s bedside— likely her mother. This implies that her mother had either fallen ill or died, but it was likely only the illness at the time since Ann’s father was praying rather than mourning or dismissing of the body. However, come third deduction, it is revealed that Ann’s parents had eventually passed away on different occasions (the mourning clothes were worn several times— this could also imply that others in Ann’s family fell ill and died too).

        So, what became of Ann? Well, in the fourth deduction, it shows that Ann had inherited her parent’s land and houses (yes, plural; the deductions heavily imply that her parents were wealthy) through her parents’s wills. But the community wasn’t happy, which led to a copious amount of unwanted attention, often in the form of death threats. Not only were they convinced Ann was a creation of the devil and a bearer of plague, but now they held deep jealousy for her inheriting such wealth— such wealth they felt she didn’t deserve.

In the fifth deduction, a priest details in a letter that he was praying for Ann’s family, which had likely also fallen ill from the epidemic. In the letter, he claims that as long as Ann is alive, her curse will continue to infect others.

I theorize that the priest’s letter could’ve been to someone well known in the area, for the following deduction is an example of the harassment Ann faced; a rock with a poorly written message on it, blaming her for the plague and the death of the author’s mother.

Another reason the priest’s letter could of gone to someone higher up or with more influence (or if it became public) has to do with Ann’s death— The town wanted Ann dead since she was a little girl, but the priest’s letter was written closer to Ann’s adulthood (and was likely an influence on her diagnosis in deduction seven, more on this later). If this letter— which essentially claimed Ann’s death would free them— fell into the wrong hands, it could easily be used as motivation for Ann’s murder.

Back to the lore; Not long after the events of deduction six, Ann was given a quite religiously influenced diagnosis. The description of extreme stress and hallucinations lead me to theorize it being a severe case of anxiety or paranoia, but that is heavily up to debate (especially since I am not a licensed professional). Ann was told that her only treatment was to convert; turn to God and pray for salvation, which is why her diagnosis may have to do with the Priest’s letter from the fifth deduction.

So Ann abandoned her faith of the cat-shaped idol and became a nun, pursuing God’s cure ( “An infinite approach to the sun...” ) despite the hatred she gained from it ( “... is equivalent to infinitely hurting yourself” ).

But.. Why did Ann become a nun? Why did she change her faith now, of all times? In the original lore given to us by the Identity V twitter, it explains how Ann had eventually believed the town’s rumors of Ann being a seed of evil. So, since she was convinced she was a horrible person, she was likely desperate for a reason to change and fix herself— especially if it would get her abusers off her case. She likely believed God was her only solution, converting out of desperation for salvation.

During her time as a nun, her eyes had never (returned/became) normal, and the harassment she received had never stopped. She struggled to find the solace she yearned for, which inevitably led to her demise. On the night of a new moon, which symbolizes new beginnings (more on this later), she had made her way to the sanctuary of her Church. Unfortunately, she never made it to the Church since she had been impaled through the heart by a wooden cross— which is likely the cross she bears as a weapon at the Manor.

As she bled out, a cat-shaped shadow had approached her claiming, "I can make your wish come true, once you've sacrificed your last bit of faith” . The figure, theorized to be her family’s original deity/honored spirit, was likely telling her to give up on Christianity and revert back to her original faith. By doing so, Ann would get her wish; her cure.

And so she did. Ann turned her back to the “sun”, and was given her cure; revenge. Ann was risen from the dead, and brought about a new pandemic— a lethal one that targeted not only her region, but only the specific people who harassed and/or murdered her.

The reason her death being on a new moon is so important is due to it’s symbolism, which further enriches Ann’s lore. A new moon represents not only new beginnings, but reflecting on the past. This pairs well with the timing of Ann’s demise since it implies her revival was a new start, much like the moon’s implication. Not only that, but Ann was forced to reflect on her time as a Christian and the treatment she was given, which led to her ultimate choice of revival— and revenge.

There are several theories on Ann’s lore, one of the most notorious being who the cat-figure really is. The most popular theory is that it’s her family’s deity/honored spirit, but other theories suggest the cat is either the devil, or an illusion from the manor. I personally am unsure on what to believe, but all the same I find it interesting how the cat could represent a diverse range of roots.

A theory of mine, however, has to do with the cat and how Ann got to the manor. We know why survivors come to the manor, but what about hunters? Like Dead by Daylight, it seems to be implied that some of them just.. End up there. Appear and exist. But with Ann, I theorize a different case. The cat spirit could of made other deals with Ann, one of them perhaps being that Ann would forever be able to, “...punish those who want to approach the truth” if she agreed to come to the manor and play the Baron’s games.

Ann is one of the most intricately woven characters of Identity V lore, and the fact her background is not officially tied to any other characters makes it all the more difficult to decipher her history. All the same, I hope my analysis helps provide clarity as well as clears up confusion with Ann’s upbringing. All of my sources come directly from Identity V, be it their YouTube, Twitter, or in-game text such as Ann’s deductions.

( If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me! I’d love to discuss theories and whatnot with you all <3 )

[snakeboistan]

Pumpkins, Pumpkins

Pairing: There’s like one line of Karmagisa, kinda but it’s a 3-E bonding fic

“Hey guys,” Kimura said, “does anyone know where Koro-Sensei and Sugaya are?”

Nagisa hummed from his crouched position as he continued to treat a pretty nasty graze under Okajima’s knee. The blunette continued to gently dab the wound when he piped up, “I heard that the two of them are planning a surprise for us - hold still please, Okajima, I’m going to put a plaster on now.”

“‘A surprise?’” Okano repeated, tilting her head in confusion, “wonder what it is.”

“Well knowing Sugaya it’s got to be something artsy,” Mimura suggested, “maybe we’re all going to be painting a mural?”

“I hope not,” Kayano sighed, “I’m afraid that the most artistic thing I can do is a hand turkey.”

Fortunately, their suspense was short lived because the very subject appeared before them, carrying a small pumpkin in his hands, accompanied by their teacher. It was clear that the two of them had just arrived from a trip that was travelled at Mach-20, if the artist’s windswept hair was anything to go by, but the question of where was plaguing everyone’s mind.

“So, Sugaya,” Mimura said, “where did the two of you go.”

“Yeah,” Okajima nodded, “we heard that there was a surprise.”

“Well,” Sugaya said, ducking his head sheepishly, “you heard right.”

“OOHH,” Kurahashi squealed, jumping up and down, “WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT?”

“I’ll give you a hint,” he replied, laughing at the girl’s never-ending enthusiasm. He held up the pumpkin in his hands, “it’s got something to do with this.”

“Are we gonna bake pumpkin pie,” Hara asked, eyes sparkling with excitement.

“No, pumpkin ramen,” Muramatsu countered.

“Hey, I’d be down for some pumpkin curry buns,” Yoshida said.

“What, no,” Sugaya shook his head before the class broke out into a fight, “We’re not gonna eat them, guys. We’re gonna carve them.”

“EHHH?” From nowhere a gust of wind gushed around them, sweeping up their clothes and hair in a miniature whirlwind. Quicker than they could blink, the class found themselves surrounded by propped up wooden tables, each having their own personal pumpkin decorating station complete with carving equipment, poster paints and stencils.

“Wow, that was fast, Sir,” Sugaya smiled at his tentacled teacher.

“Oh this is nothing,” Koro-Sensei beamed, “what good is having a top speed of Mach 20 if I can’t use it to help my students get their creative juices flowing?

“Really?” Terasaka crossed his arms and grumbled, “We’re gonna be decorating vegetables now?”

“Oh stop acting all tough, Terasaka,” Fuwa scoffed, “I know for a fact that you’ve cried during Kimi No Na Wa.”

The class burst into full-blown chortles, choked laughter and muffled giggles as Terasaka turned red and spluttered, “What the hell, Fuwa?!”

Fuwa smirked and held up a peace sign, “call it an otaku’s instinct.”

Karma smirked as he rubbed his hands together with glee, “ooh, this will be fun.”

“Uhh,” Kimura sweat-dropped at Karma’s devilish aura. The rest of the class' wary eyes widened at the swinging tail and sharp horns that seemed to protrude out of him, “is it really a good idea to have so many sharp objects around when Karma’s here?”

“Don’t worry,” Nagisa reassured everyone, apparently being the only person unbothered by the redhead’s questionable behaviour, “I’ll make sure that no one gets hurt.”

“Well, children,” Koro-Sensei said, “what are you waiting for? Go and have fun.”

And with that they all ran towards the tables, absolutely buzzing to get started.

…

Nagisa placed his small pumpkin on the tabletop next to Sugino. The black haired boy in question, who had obtained the most spherical-looking pumpkin he could find, was currently covering its entire surface with white paint.

“Hey, Nagisa,” Sugino smiled, “what are you going to do?”

Nagisa hummed, “Well, I’m not the best with a knife but I’m going to try carving a face. If all else fails, I can just paint on some superhero symbols and call it a day. You?”

“I’m turning this thing into a giant baseball.”

The blunette smiled, “yeah, that sounds about right.”

After an hour and a half, one miniature war between a certain group of students who were flinging pumpkin pulp at others (mainly Karma aiming at Terasaka, to be honest), and one dramatic rendition of Total Eclipse of the Heart courtesy of Okajima and Maehara, the class had completed their pumpkin carving activity and were all admiring each other’s handiwork. The girls had gathered around Kurahashi and Yada’s pumpkin and were fawning over it’s adorableness. The two girls had used their knife skills to carve a window and door to create a quaint little home for the tiniest little pumpkin they could find, that Kurahashi had drawn a smiley face on with a black marker.

“His name is ‘Kabo-chan’ and he is our son,” Kurahashi was telling everyone proudly with Yada nodding next to her (it’s a play on words - according to google translate ‘kabocha’ is japanese for pumpkin).

Meanwhile, others were having their own kind of fun.

“Wow, Terasaka, I’ve got to say that your pumpkin looks positively gruesome - oh wait nevermind,” Karma smiled ‘innocently’ as he corrected his apparent ‘mistake’, “that’s just your face.”

“What the hell, Akabane,” Terasaka growled as he took a step forward, “why don’t you just go and f*** off. Or better yet, grow a pair and actually tell Nagisa how you feel instead of-”

Due to the fact that Kanzaki’s praise of his baseball pumpkin had rendered Sugino speechless and the tan skinned boy looked like he was going to pass out, Nagisa was preoccupied and therefore unable to prevent the fight that had broken out after Karma dunked a bucket of pumpkin guts over Terasaka’s head.

Kayano giggled, “I’m surprised you didn’t paint sushi rolls onto yours, Nagisa.”

“I did consider it,” the blue-haired boy replied, shrugging sheepishly. He had scrapped his original idea of carving and just ended up sharing Sugino’s white paint which he used to cover his own pumpkin as well, before using black paint to paint on two spots connected by a line to resemble Baymax’s face. It wasn’t as creative as his classmates’, like Nakamura’s puking pumpkin guts idea, or Kimura’s and Okano’s pumpkin that had the words ‘BEING NAMED JUSTICE’ and ‘SCHOOL’ carved on respectively, or the many other scary faces that were displayed but he wasn’t really the artistic type anyways.

“Holy hell, Sugaya,” Yoshida’s voice exclaimed, “that’s a frickin masterpiece.”

Growing curious at the source of the motorcycle lover’s awe, Nagisa and Sugino made their way towards the cluster of students who had gathered around Sugaya’s workstation, only to be faced with something that made their breaths catch: meticulously carved onto the husk of his large orange vegetable was an outline of the E-class building. Sugaya’s skillful hands had used the tools provided to create an image that was so carefully drawn, it looked almost lifelike, with thick bold lines that made the picture look three-dimensional. He had even found a way to somehow only shave off the outer epidermis of the skin to use the light yellow under it to give the illusion of light and shadow. It was times like this when Nagisa wondered how E-Class was seen as harbouring the lowest of the low when it was filled with people who were brimming with so much talent that it would put adults to shame.

“Oh my god,” Nakamura breathed as she snapped a picture on her phone.

“Now that’s a pumpkin,” Mimura stated with pure admiration.

“Wow Sugaya, it’s amazing,” Kayano said, “I have no idea how you were able to do it in like an hour. I was only able to get a smiley face done.”

“It is really nice,” Nagisa commented.

“Oh thanks, Nagisa. By the way, I’ve got another pumpkin I think you might like.”

Ignoring Okajima’s disbelieving cry of “YOU MADE ANOTHER ONE?!”, Sugaya bent down and handed Nagisa the miniature pumpkin he was holding earlier. Groaning slightly at the increased weight that was placed in his arms, Nagisa turned the pumpkin around to find that it had a snake carved onto its skin. He huffed out a laugh, “That’s amazing. I love it.”

“Oh my god,” Nakamura laughed, “snake boy gets a snake pumpkin.”

The class burst into laughter as Nagisa blushed.

“WHO WANTS TO SEE MY PUMPKIN?” Koro-Sensei’s gleeful voice broke through the crowd. The class turned towards him and immediately paused at the sight that greeted them. Sitting on the floor at one meter was the largest pumpkin they had ever seen and carved onto it was a recreation of Michaelangelo’s famous painting of ‘The Creation Of Adam’ only the bodies of God and Adam were replaced by Koro-Senseis, who were wearing billowing robes and heads of flowing hair, very intimately touching tentacle-tips. Surrounding them were tiny Koro-Sensei’s in cherubic attire, complete with harps and angel wings. The artist himself started tearing up, “ISN’T IT BREATH-TAKING?”

A beat passed...

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!”

“That has got to be the weirdest thing I’ve seen all day,” Kimura deadpanned.

Okajima looked disturbed, “It’s so strange that I can’t help but look at it.”

Sugino nodded, “It’s going to be in my nightmares for days.”

“Talk about over-kill,” Maehara commented.

Koro-Sensei burst into tears at their criticism, “WHY MUST YOU CHILDREN BE SO CRUEL?!”

Rolling his eyes at his teacher’s melodramatic wails, Sugaya addressed the class, with a nervous smile, “so, did you guys have fun?”

“Yep.”

“Totally.”

“It was awesome.”

“Yeah, I guess it was alright.”

“I definitely enjoyed myself.”

“It was a great idea, Sugaya.”

“Yeah dude, we should definitely do this again sometime.”

The silver haired boy blushed at all of the positive reinforcement he was getting, “Thanks guys. To be honest, I’ve always wanted to do this for a while but I couldn’t imagine doing it without you guys.”

“Aww, Sugaya,” Kurahashi hugged him, “that’s really sweet.”

“Yeah,” Okano chimed, “class activities are always fun.”

“It’s never a boring day in our weirdly dysfunctional family,” Nakamura smirked.

“I’m keeping these knives.”

“Karma, no.”

[alyasalias]

Dabi Theory

I have a theory that Dabi is secretly on the Hero-side of things...or at least not 100% on the Villain's side. Spoilers for the Training Camp Arc as well as for the latest fights in the manga. You have been warned.

I've been re-reading HeroAca lately and I'm currently at the Summer Training Camp arc. I just got to the point where Eraserhead is fighting the Dabi clone and I noticed something odd: what Dabi said. Dabi tipped them off to the fact that the students were the target. Sure, what he said could have been a jab at the heroes...but I wonder if perhaps it was a veiled message like what Hawks did with Endeavor and the book.

Magne was quick to figure out the fact that someone spilled the beans on "Bakugo Katsuki" being their target and she/they seemed really panicked that it had been found out. Through the process of elimination, she/they deduced that Izuku must have fought Muscular, 'cuz there were only a couple of people on their team that she/they believed could have been the leak. It seemed like secrecy was a big deal for this band of villains.

Dabi's a smart guy as well. We've seen very little of him, and know even less about him...but we know he's calculating. We know he's not impulsive or whatever. He was the one in charge of recruiting Hawks when recruitment was usually Twice's job. He was the one that had the most contact with Hawks and also the one that trusted Hawks the least out of all of the Villains. He even lied to Hawks about the Nomu attack. "It was supposed to be tomorrow--in a different location"--Hawks said to him. Through his actions, we can kind of infer that Dabi is a cunning and calculating sort of person. I don't think he's done anything on impulse. He doesn't seem like some for-laughs villain that'll spill the beans for fun.

So...yeah, what the Dabi-clone said to Eraserhead got me thinking: what if Dabi has been on their side all along...or at least he's not 100% on All For One's side. He joined the League claiming to be inspired by Stain or whatnot...so the whole "punish the 'Heroes' that aren't selfless enough" sort of thing. We know that Twice doesn't control what the clones think, know, or feel. The clones know everything that the originals know at the point they were cloned, so the Dabi-clone wasn't saying all of that because it was Twice's words...they were Dabi-prime's words/thoughts/actions.

Dabi's a smart guy--he always has been. He had know way of knowing what Eraserhead and the teachers/adults knew. It was a chaotic situation--the teachers were panicking, trying to corral all of the students to the building. The students were scattered over a large area. There was mass confusion--that would have been clear. It would have been safe to assume the teachers didn't know what the Villains were after or even if they had a goal in mind for this particular attack. For USJ they had a clear objective: they wanted to kill All Might but All Might wasn't there when they got there--they admitted that much. Hosu and the Hero-Killer incident(s) were a bit more of an unknown for the side of the Heroes, and the way everyone talked about it made it seem like they believed Stain had joined the League and that's why the Nomu were there...so as far as the Villains know, the Heroes believed that Hosu was a coordinated attack with the Hero-Killer simply to attack things. Then we come to the training camp..."the students are the target" wouldn't be their first thought, I'm pretty sure. If I were one of the teachers I'd be thinking, "crap--do they think All Might's at this camp?" or even "damn...they found us somehow. Is there a traitor in our midst that leaked the information or is it just a coincidence that the Villains are here now and they decided to attack for no reason like in Hosu?" Officially, to the characters within the HeroAca universe at least, the students haven't been the target of Villain attacks. They were involved, but they weren't the primary targets at any point up to the present.

Dabi's a smart guy, so I don't think he'd leak information even in jest. He seems like the type to keep his mouth shut rather than go for a way to rile up his opponent. He had nothing to gain from tipping off Eraserhead to the fact that the students were their target. Sure, it'd cause a panic and it'd take a while for the teachers to narrow down which student they were after...and maybe Dabi hoped to capitalize on the confusion that sort of panic would spread...or on the despair aspect if they failed to realize it was Katsuki until the last moment. However...I just don't think Dabi's that sort of person.

I think Dabi intentionally leaked the information to Eraserhead and disguised it as a jest. He intentionally waited until the clone was dying before he said it too and we've already established that the clones think/feel/know/act independently from Twice. Twice doesn't control the clones.

So...yeah...why leak the information, right? I have two theories on that. It's possible that Dabi's a secret agent--like Hawks--sent by some Hero commission or agency or whatever to infiltrate the League. Maybe a group realized that the whole "inspired by Stain and he was working with the League" rationale was a good cover and they sent Dabi in. Personally, I don't see too much support for this theory as of yet. We don't have anything on Dabi's backstory. Even his reveal to Hawks on what his real name was or whatever was blacked out in the manga. It's only fan theories that suggest he's Todoroki Touya. My second theory, and the one I think is more probable at this point with the evidence we have: Dabi is very much like Spinner--he's not on the Hero's side or the Villain's side, he's a man who was inspired by Stain and wants to do something about the plague of undeserving 'Heroes'. We see that sort of story play out in other media too--in the Doctor Strange movie they portrayed pre-mystic-arts-Strange as a pompous doctor that chose his cases based on the fame it would awarrd him rather than on saving lives. Heroes in it for the fame or for the money exist in HeroAca too and Stain hated them--All Might and Deku are currently the only people he believes worthy of the title of 'Hero'. Spinner held fast to those ideals, stopping Magne from killing Izuku during the training camp. It proved to me that Spinner, at the very least, isn't fully aligned with the League. He's following what he believes are Stain's ideals. He'll go along with their plans and whatever so long as All Might and Izuku aren't harmed (from what we've seen so far). I wonder if Dabi's the same way...but slightly more cunning. We know Spinner was a NEET and whatever before joining the League and at times he seems kind of lost or like he's being indoctrinated more and more into the League. If I assume Dabi's "smarter" than Spinner and that he did his homework on Stain...I believe that it's possible Dabi tipped off Eraserhead to the students being the target because of his beliefs. Stain wouldn't want to harm the children. The children aren't Heroes. Sure, they're Heroes-in-training and some of them have motivations that Stain would detest...but Stain did try to spare Tenya when he first saw him and realized that he was just a student. Maybe Dabi decided that an attack on students at a training camp wasn't in-line with Stain's ideals. They brought the fight to the students without provocation. Nobody said "well, this will be a hit to Hero society and All Might if we were to kill/kidnap a few students at camp". Their objective was to capture Bakugo Katsuki because they believed him to have the ideals of a Villain due to what they saw of him at the Sport's Festival. Stain wasn't interested in making Villains. In his own way, Stain was trying to create a better society. He was trying to get Heroes to wake up to the heart of the matter--to be altruistic and all. He wanted to create a world where Heroes did things for the sake of the people--not for fame, Hero-points, or money.

The more I think about this, the more I'm thinking that Dabi's tip-off that the students were the target was deliberate. He may not have been on the side of the Heroes, but he didn't want to see kids get kidnapped or killed. He didn't engage any of the students directly either. Their task was to capture Katsuki and go away and he recalled the Nomu just in time--preventing it from killing some students (potentially unknowingly). Also, there's that scene where he's clearly staring at the bushes that Aoyama was hiding behind. It's likely that he saw Aoyama and chose not to fight/kill a cowering student.

This theory also fits in with the latest fight we saw with Dabi too. Dabi vs. Hawks and Tsukuyomi. Hawks is number 2 on the Hero charts--the chart that Stain would have disapproved of. Hawks is a super popular Hero--he's famous--that's something else Stain would hate. Saving people's lives shouldn't become a spectacle or something that makes someone famous or whatever in their eyes. So...I think that Dabi wasn't just wary of Hawks joining the League...I think that if Dabi's an avid Stain-follower he never trusted Hawks in the first place because he disliked what Hawks represented in Hero society--#2 Hero of a broken system and basically the face of what hero-fame looks like. Stain wouldn't approve of Hawks being some super popular symbol. He can save people and make it look effortless with his feathers and whatever...Stain would probably be angry that Hawks gets paid to do it and that he gets all the fame and whatever...like "if it's gonna be that effortless for you and whatnot, then do it and move on...you should be doing it and you shouldn't be basking in the praise and glory--just save the people without stopping to be thanked and praised." It also fits with Tsukuyomi being able to run away with Hawks too. Lights are Dark Shadow's weakness and Dabi's is a fire Quirk--it would have been a really bad match up. Maybe they only got away because Dabi realized a couple of things: 1) Tsukuyomi was a student and 2) Tsukuyomi was acting like a true Hero in that moment. He wasn't just following orders or saving Hawks for the fame and glory. He saw his mentor up there and he moved without thinking to protect someone he saw needed help. He stood up to face Dabi, putting himself between the one that needed saving (Hawks) and the threat (Dabi) despite the fact that they were a poor match up. Stain would probably approve of Tsukuyomi's actions here--staring death in the face for no reason other than "I saw someone that needed help and I came to give them help".