#friend: of amethyst and starlight (anna)

[moved-to-void-kissed]

To Stand Before the Void

Luna is desperate to rescue Adriana from the black hole that opened up on top of her, and finds her way to her girlfriend in the darkness of the Void. However, when she is faced with the chance to reach that which she has sought for so much of her life, she realises that her priorities have changed. (1590 words) Takes place during Episode 18 of Pokémon Reborn, replacing Luna’s normal dialogue at the end of the Void sequence. Content warning for themes of unreality and escaping from life, a spectral entity, and allusions to past events involving character deaths from earlier in the story. The ending is happy.

tag list: @dragonsmooch | @childrenofmeyneth | @beeon | @kissofthemoonrabbit | @tex-treasures | @kalliopi-ships | @catake | @tartaglialovemail | @strawberryshipz | @setzale | @vilehusband | @blackbirdcrime | @lilacslovers | @thatslikesometaldude (to be added to my tag list, please click here!)

I made it just in time for this to count as my piece for the fifth day of sapphic September! This follows the prompt of “realisation” given by @sapphicseptemberhub, and.. although it turned out slightly heavier than intended, I’m happy with how it turned out. I hope it’s alright to share with you all!

Reblogs of this post are appreciated, but by no means required; comments should also be enabled on the document, if anyone wants to leave any there! A transcript copied from the document is under the readmore:

“My love! My love, where are you?”

The cry of the princess echoed coldly across the space she now found herself in. The perfect darkness that Luna had stepped into now sprawled itself endlessly to reveal a vast chasm of nothingness, lit only by pinpricks of stars that did not seem to shine at all. A scattering of these lifeless stars had coalesced at her feet, providing somehow-solid ground to stand on, and she found them multiplying to support her steps as she ran forwards.

Ah, so she had found her way home again.

And yet, why did this place she called her home seem so unfriendly?

There was something missing - was it from her, or from this world?

At that moment, the dark dreamer did not care.

Luna kept running, ever graceful despite her panic, and the starlight swooped ahead of her to carve out a path. Thanking it for its assistance, she progressed to see what lay beyond, and her heart swelled when she sensed someone in the darkness before her. She kept going into nothing, and then the figure was visible, so regal in her dark purple- Oh. No, this was a striking purple jacket, worn by a tall boy in platform boots, whose one eye visible from under his dark purple hair widened happily at her approach.

“Luna!”

“Cain-” , she began, before the tired young Trainer rushed to hug her a little too tightly, “-why are you here?” 

“Ahaha, well, the black hole that Gardevoir made miiight have caught me up when it generated. I was so focused on getting Shelly out of the way that I didn’t see it expanding behind me.” It seemed that even such a grave situation as this was not enough to dull all of Cain’s enthusiasm, though the worn-out expression on his face belied his true amount of vigour. “..It didn’t keep going, did it?”

“No, do not worry - its size became stable, and the others are all free of it.” She had been far enough away when the crisis occurred to be confident in her words. Then, as had just happened to Cain, the fear crept back into her voice. “Where is Adriana?”

“I saw her just now, I thought you were her again, actually - at least, I’m pretty sure that was her. I.. kept seeing so many things, loads of people from this region and even some I didn’t know, but- everything just feels so twisted in here, it’s creeping me out. I’m pretty sure I’m talking to the real you, though, right?”

An amused little smile was brought out by this for a moment. “Yes,” she asserted, “I am always myself. Cain, do you see a path behind me?”

He tilted his head to look past her. “Yeah. Wow, it’s bright. Way moreso than the stuff I’ve been standing on!”

“Follow it”, said Luna, “and the darkness will bring you back to the others. I wish you well, my friend.”

He nodded and went on his way, though by the time his worries brought him to turn his head to check on Luna, she had already disappeared into the darkness once more.

==========

A part of her was of course relieved to have recovered her friend, but Cain was not the one Luna had sought, though the fact he had claimed to have met Adriana meant she had to have been close by. That fact brought her solace, and she could feel the darkness around her becoming less alien by the minute. It was starting to feel like home again, a place she could escape to for the rest of forever. 

To be alone in darkness, to escape the life that life had given her, that had always been her highest aspiration.

She just had to find Adriana, and then she could step off the pathway so kindly lit by the stars, and fall down into her Wonderland.

But the star path, and little Fantasia, didn’t want to let her go down that rabbit hole just yet.

“If two stars were to fall, passing each other like ships in the night, do you think they would wish upon each other?”

Right now, Luna’s wish was to fall.

It was then that her Wonderland finally, truly, appeared to her.

She seemed just as weary as Cain had looked, as the darkest parts of the things she had witnessed were even now still clouding her vision. The exhausted cries from the top of the volcano, the flower’s cascade down the waterfall, the broken-winged hawk she had managed to save, and the now-shattered amethyst she hadn’t; all the sights that the Void’s grip had thrown at her had worn away at her spirit. The starlight she nervously walked upon was flickering, afraid, though no less bright than Luna’s own - and those same stars were now scattered across her body in pale specks and freckle-like clusters. Something about her seemed missing, and replaced with something not quite settled in yet.

But there was no mistaking that smile.

“My love!”

It was Luna who leapt to embrace this time, filled wholly with warmth and relief at the touch of her partner. Adriana did the same, and the shadows trying to haunt her turned and ran, as the darkness around the pair settled comfortingly.

“You’re here..! It’s really you!” she said, with an echo of concern in her voice. “Are you alright? How did you reach me?”

Luna’s honey brown eyes glittered with tears of gratitude. “I am all too aware of how to navigate this darkness - it is a wonderful abyss of opportunity, and it has brought us together once more. In addition, I came across our friend Cain here, earlier on; as far as I am aware, he has managed to escape without trouble.”

“Oh, thank goodness - I’m so glad he made it out.” Adriana replied. “Come on now, let’s leave this place..”

As she spoke, the soul-touched Trainer moved to follow the path Luna had walked to reach her, only to find her partner standing firmly in place.

“..Luna?”

It was now tears of sorrow that welled up in Luna’s eyes.

“My love, I- I’m sorry, but.. I don’t think I can..”

“What?”

“This void, this endless expanse of darkness.. It is the one place where I will be safe, like all the monsters of which children fear. Do you remember that I said this to you before? The time has come for me to follow my own infinity, in the abyss that will draw out my greatest potential..” 

This was the only way for Luna’s story to end the way she wanted it to, the way she had always wanted it to.

Why did such routine thoughts now sound so uncertain when spoken aloud..?

“Luna-” Adriana’s words were cut short by her own crying, as the merest moment of surprise she had felt soon cascaded into despair - a far greater despair than Luna had ever envisioned. “Luna, that isn’t true! Please, I- I don’t know what I would do, if you weren’t here with me..” 

No, this wasn’t how she had thought the story would be told..

“Luna, you are not a monster! You are so, so loved, a-and- you are the person I care about most in the world. I mean that, with all that I am, and that will never change! Please, I can’t leave you behind again! It doesn’t have to be like this!”

That was all she could say before sheer panic closed her throat, and a desperation just as strong as the one that had brought Luna to rescue her in the first place clawed around Adriana’s crying figure. The wishes of the starlight joined in too, with their childish apprehension - a silent song resounded from around the pair, eerie and nervous and hopeful, crying out for help, crying for an answer.

Did she really have to follow the story she had written out for herself?

The tale that had never foreseen the impact of a loving, welcoming parent, or people she felt on good terms with - people who might even, perhaps, call her their friends - or the arrival of a romantic partner?

The long-held wish of that little dark dreamer, who now had grown up to find a new way of living out her fairytale?

No, she thought to herself. No, I won’t let it end here. Not anymore.

And so, as the Void closed in around them both, she decided to realise her future despite it.

==========

The next thing Luna knew, she was lying on a cold tiled floor, still locked in the unconscious embrace of her girlfriend. The area around her was a total mess of debris and broken machinery, and everything that had been in the middle of the room had disappeared. She felt different, now that she had experienced the Void in its full capacity - but part of that difference stemmed from her new resolution, and it filled her with a calm yet unwavering determination.

When she looked up, she saw the one who had rescued her; a foreboding silhouette of a figure in a hat and trenchcoat, ominously hovering with a scarlet aura surrounding him, whom everyone else - except the little girl with the Jirachi doll - was staring apprehensively at. He spoke slowly and cryptically before fading away, and though his eyes could not be seen, it was clear he was addressing both the dark dreamer and her soul-touched love.

“..Abyss is unrelenting..

..To you, joined with bonds of the soul..

..Inscribe in your lives a new chapter..

..For joy, shared, awaits at the goal..”

[moved-to-void-kissed]

I may not have made anything specific for Halloween this year in terms of content pieces (writing, renders, etc.), but I did have something I was going to make, and I wanted to share my thoughts behind it with you all.

Luna, as may be expected, dresses up as Alice in Wonderland every year. Some aspects of how she acts and presents herself are always inspired by her - one need only look to her Pokémon to see that - but on this night specifically, she decides to stay as true to the book's portrayal of Alice as possible. Halloween is one of her absolute most favourite events.

Radomus, ever eager for a chance to put on yet another hat of his, matches his adoptive daughter by wearing the attire of the Mad Hatter. Again, his regular outfits do normally seem to take influence from him, but on Halloween he also decides to match the character more closely. Like Luna, he also thoroughly enjoys the night.

The twins, his other two children, were tempted to dress as a pair, but they could not agree on who to be, so they decided they didn't have to match with each other as long as they were still characters from Alice's tale. Anna dresses up as the Cheshire Cat, while Noel ends up as the White Rabbit.

So then, where does that leave Adriana? She wanted to fit in with the theme, but she was unsure about who it made sense for her to dress as. It was Noel who figured out a solution for her - since the Vanhanens were all dressed up as characters from a specific book, regardless of what the book actually was, then Adri can be their storyteller. Even though she is not the author of their story, she can be the one who shares it with the world.

And so, that's who we were tonight.

[moved-to-void-kissed]

👪 + 💢 for pokémon?? (feel free to choose the specific s/i or do more than one! i love hearing about your s/is!)

Sure thing, Sea!! Thank you very much for this - I’ll be answering these for Adriana if that’s alright! For context, she’s the self-insert I use for visiting Kalos, Reborn, Hoenn, and Galar, with most of her established story focusing around her time in the Reborn region because that’s where Luna is.

(question source: this post by hobgayblin)

send me a self-insert of mine and..

👪 - I’ll tell you about a family member of hers (blood-related, adopted, or just something similar to a familial relationship) - well, the most applicable characters here are Anna and Noel, twins with prominent positions in the Reborn Pokémon League despite only being twelve years old; Noel is the Normal-type Gym Leader, while Anna is speculated to be the Psychic-type Elite Four member, though that’s not in the game yet.

I (or rather, Adriana) meet(s) them both fairly early on in her league challenge, and eventually ends up spending a lot of time with them after helping them escape Reborn City with some of the others from the orphanage they were staying in. We end up quite close, with Anna taking a strong interest in Adri because of the fact she apparently glows (for context, Anna claims to perceive a lot of unique traits about those around her that nobody else can - insisting her doll Nostra is actually a Jirachi that can talk to her, seeing the strings that represent people’s connections to each other, saying Cain’s eyes are pitch-black when to everyone else they are purple, and so on). However, Adri is much more similar to Noel personality-wise, in terms of being quieter and more introverted - and she always makes sure to listen to him and include him, which is something he really appreciates given that he tends to be overlooked a bit over Anna’s exuberance.

It isn’t until right near the end of the journey that this vaguely familial connection we end up with becomes a lot more concrete with the revelation that Anna and Noel are actually Radomus’ lost children, since Radomus is the adopted dad of Luna, who is of course Adri’s partner. So now they are my.. whatever the precursor is to being siblings-in-law before actually being married, and they live with Radomus and Luna in Vanhanen Castle (which is where Adriana is also currently staying).

..This is already getting long and the enemies mentioned below are all characters that aren’t initially introduced as being enemies in the game, so I’ll put the other part under the readmore.

💢 - I'll tell you about an enemy of hers - Due to their status as the evil team that is trying to destroy Reborn City, Adriana is very much an enemy of Team Meteor and its affiliates (with the only real exception being her friend Taka). To be more specific, her most personal grudges are against Fern for his horrible nature - his behaviour in the Onyx Trainer’s School was enough to cement him as a lost cause for friendship in her eyes, and it only got worse from there - as well as Elias and Bennett for what they did to Luna. However, she has soundly defeated all three of them at every instance, the most recent of which being my rewrite of the events at the Glass Workstation, where she and Luna battle alongside each other to win a 12v12 against Bennett (who had stolen Cain and Shelly’s Pokémon and still couldn’t win!)

I hope that those answers were alright! Thank you so much again for sending the questions in!!

[moved-to-void-kissed]

Today’s random selfship-related fact is:

Adriana had already grown quite close to Anna and Noel before ever even meeting Luna because of her role in helping them escape the Lapis Orphanage, but the recent revelation that the twins are Radomus’ children - and therefore, Luna’s adopted siblings - meant she now gets to see them often in the castle. She finds Anna’s exuberance endearing, if sometimes a little difficult to bear for long periods of time, and also gets on well with Noel since both of them are similarly quiet.

[moved-to-void-kissed]

Seeing Up Booths, and Practising Tricks? Maybe with some thoughts on/from Luna and N 👀 (-dragonsmooch)

Sure thing, Dragon, thank you very much for these!!~

I'm not actually answering any of these preparation asks in a takeover format (which reminds me, I need to make it clear how I'm handling that kind of thing in my event post when I make that), but I'm more than happy to answer this generally, so don't worry!

(question source: "Joyful July Prep Asks” by joyfuljuly-circusevent)

Setting up Booths - Have you ever had fair foods outside of the carnival? Are you interested in making them at home, or have you made them before? - Luna has, but only once, since Adriana brought some snacks back from the Agate Circus (which is where she had pretty much been staying for most of the time she was away from Luna). I think she could quite enjoy getting to make some, as just something light-hearted and fun to do - maybe Anna and Noel could help her out in the castle kitchen, since I’m sure they’d also love to take part in making carnival foods!!

As for N, I think he would have had those sorts of foods on occasion because they’re similar to the sorts of things that would be sold at the Nimbasa City amusement park, which in-game he seems to quite enjoy because he likes the mechanisms of the rides there, especially the ferris wheel. Though I’m not sure he would be overly enamoured about making them himself, the idea of him adapting the recipes to suit the Pokémon around him (like maybe working in flavours of specific Berries and so on?) is something I’m quite fond of - I’m sure places like that would sell fair foods for Pokémon specifically, but it’s still a nice thought, I think ^-^

Practising Tricks - Do you have any sort of special talents that could be considered suitable for a circus or carnival? Juggling, acting, physical comedy, etc.? - Hmm.. I can’t really think of anything in particular for Luna, to be honest. She is very graceful and elegant, but that doesn’t really mean she’s particularly agile or acrobatic, especially given her preference for gothic lolita-style attire. Not to mention, Luna doesn’t exactly get on well with the hustle and bustle of a crowded circus or carnival, anyway - we’ll probably go when it’s dark, much later in the day, so things are much more subdued and calm compared to the daytime.

And then, I suppose N’s close bonds and communication with Pokémon could mean that he might be able to perform a lot of specialised acts and tricks with them that other performers might not be able to, or might need much more training and practise to attempt. This other idea is maybe not directly circus-related, but- maybe he could set up a little side attraction of sorts where people bring their Pokémon to him, so he gets to talk to them, and he tells their Trainers things about them, like “Your Luxio is really happy with the new toy you bought him” or “I think your Petilil wants to evolve, you should look into buying a Sun Stone for her if you’re able to take care of her well as a Lilligant”, for example.

Thank you very much again for these, dear dragon! I hope that my answers were alright ^-^

[moved-to-void-kissed]

💞 how about anna?

Thank you so much for this, Ginger!! I care about the twins a lot, so it means a lot that you'd want to hear more about them (or, one of them, in this case) ^-^

(source: this post by queenvonhresvelg)

send me 💞 and an F/O and I’ll tell you something I like about our relationship dynamic - despite Anna being only twelve years old, Adriana still listens to what she has to say and treats her with respect just as she would a much older individual, because she knows that Anna’s observations of the world are very genuine and have a lot of meaning to them (she sees Cain’s eyes as pitch-black instead of purple, burn scars all over Charlotte that neither she nor anyone else claims are there, cracks like those in ice across Serra’s body, Taka as having wings - one of which is broken - and so on).

It does help that Anna’s advice for Adriana - namely, to make sure she collects every Gym Badge in the Reborn League - fits perfectly with what she was intending to do anyway, but Anna nevertheless really appreciates that Adri has wanted to connect with her so much, and their closeness has only been augmented by the recent revelation that Anna is Radomus’ daughter, and therefore Luna’s little sister, so they are spending more time with her and each other.

I hope that that answer was alright! Thank you very much again for sending this in!~

[moved-to-void-kissed]

trying on costumes for the ask meme!

Sure thing, Clara! Thank you for this!~

(question source: "Joyful July Prep Asks” by joyfuljuly-circusevent)

Trying on Costumes - Do you or your F/O like to dress up when going to the circus or carnival? Do you dress up formally, or do you try to fit the 'mood’- more silly? - So, I have already had this question, and I said then that overall my F/Os would tend to dress up more formally than being silly, and this largely extends to me myself as well. However, I didn’t really dwell on which ones would dress up in a more silly and circus-themed way, but some of them definitely would! Anna comes to mind instantly as someone who would want to be very silly and get into the spirit of things that way - big bright ribbons in her hair, maybe a little clown nose for Nostra, and so on. Same goes for some of my more exuberant platonic F/Os, like Cain or maybe Ventus or Crossette or even Zeke and Pandy. Definitely Iris, too. Those kinds of people are the ones I could see wanting to play more into the silly side of things, just because they could!!

I hope that that answer was alright - thank you again for sending this in!!~

[moved-to-void-kissed]

how about candy corn, muffin, and mocha for luna !

Of course! Thank you so much for all these, Bing, it’s always lovely to see you around!~

(question source: “Sweet themed selfship asks!”)

Candy corn: Is your F/O musically gifted? If so do they/have they ever serenaded you? - now that’s a thought, isn’t it So, this has sort of happened by accident, but all of the songs in the playlist I made for Luna are by the same artist, itoki hana. And, I could definitely imagine Luna with a similar sort of voice to her, since she sounds very graceful and almost ethereal in a way in a lot of her songs. So, I would say Luna has a lovely singing voice, and she isn’t the most confident about singing to others, but even just the little bits that Adri might have overheard echoing through the castle here and there are enough ^-^

Muffin: What does your F/O’s laugh sound like? - oh, it’s beautiful. It’s quite soft, not loud or exuberant at all, and since Luna is naturally quite quiet and serene you don’t tend to hear her laugh particularly often - smiles are common, but laughter is rare (unlike her sister, Anna, who is almost always giggling or beaming about something or other whenever she gets excited). But, whenever she does find enough joy in something to laugh, her laugh is a beautiful thing, and it sounds like birdsong.

Mocha: Which one leans into the other for comfort while watching scary movies? - Hmm.. Probably Adriana, just because I myself am not really a fan of scary or horror movies by any means. Though, given that Luna is a Dark-type Pokémon specialist and Adri has a lot of experience with Ghost-type Pokémon, it’s entirely likely that both are mostly unfazed by “creepy” sorts of horror or scary movies. Neither would be much a fan of gore, though.

I hope that these answers were alright! Thank you very much again for sending this in ^-^

[moved-to-void-kissed]

🌷, 🍒 and 💜 for Luna, if you want? :) (candyforthebrain)

Of course I want to, @candyforthebrain! Thank you very much for these!!~

(question source: “Self Ship Ask Thing” by summercorez) 

🌷 - How different is your F/O in your head compared to canon? - ..I mean, she’s still around, for one thing, so that on its own is rather different =P But, also, I think I tend to downplay Luna acting as the maid of Vanhanen Castle, and focus more on the fact that she’s its princess, too (which isn’t as much of a part that she revolves herself around in the game, though I imagine she would do if she was around post-Episode 18). Judging from last time there was an F/O takeover going on, I’m pretty sure I have a tendency to write and/or think of her dialogue a bit more archaically how than she actually speaks, too - although part of that probably stems from trying to differentiate her speech from that of other F/Os.

🍒 - What are some headcanons you have about your F/O? - I’m actually notoriously terrible with coming up with headcanons of my own accord (most of the time I just end up leeching them from other people who’ve already come up with them ;w;), but, I think I have a couple! Technically, the way I portray her outfit via her MMD reference model is headcanoned, or rather extrapolated from how her in-game sprites look. She’s a great older sister to both Anna and Noel, and really enjoys getting to spend time with them both - in turn, Anna really loves having Luna around, and so does Noel, but in a much more quiet sort of appreciation. And, this is a headcanon only by the fact that she never outright states it to my knowledge in the game, but if given the opportunity, she introduces herself to others as Luna Vanhanen.

💜 - How do your F/O and self-insert flirt? - Luna is quite awkward when it comes to flirting and things like that, but she flirts in a very poetic sort of way, if that makes sense! She’s quite old-fashioned about things too, so to speak - love letters, heartfelt compliments, little acts of service, things like that. Adriana, on the other hand, is a little bit more showy about flirting and can be more confident about it. To be honest, both of us definitely end up descending into flustered messes any time we try and get too flirty, ahaha ;w;

I hope these answers were alright! Thank you very much again for sending these in, friend!~