#it's interesting though because this is the first save where i noticed it haha

[autumnywinter]

Your Yan!Elliott posts are endlessly fascinating to me. I propose an idea for you if you are up for it: Yan!Elliott finally has his prize all to himself, only to learn he's simply done the job for them. He's not the only obsessed one. He's not got his prize caged up. No no. He's caged with them. Wasn't it always rather odd that his target of infatuation quickly learned everything about him, his schedules, his interests, his favorite foods? Did he ever even notice? (Based a little on the fact that--let's be real--we players are the weird ones)

Omg thank you! :) And true, I would 100% be considered the creep if my farmer's behavior imitated my own irl behavior haha T_T

I made Reader a lot more smug than I normally do. I hope this is good!!

Yandere!Elliott x Reader

Tags/warnings: Suggestive, drugging, mentioned stalking, dubcon (kinda but not really), yandere x yandere, gender neutral reader

Sometimes Elliott felt like he didn't even need to stalk you around the town. He'd walk out of his cabin, camera, binoculars, and caffeine gathered for a stakeout, only for you to be waiting outside with a smile on your face. That same smile that made him feel like he was soaring.

Not only that, but you knew just what he liked. Granted, he'd like anything if it were from you, but he had a whole year's supply worth of pomegranates and ink stocked up in his cabin.

He didn't even want to put either to use, treasuring each item you gave him like a rare gem. He did eventually crack and eat the pomegranates though. He was only human, after all!

There was no doubting it. You were perfect.

Each time he'd write lengthy letters to you, all from your "secret admirer", he'd watch your expressions. You always looked delighted to have received a letter. Though you never once attempted to find out who was sending you them. Elliott wondered if maybe you already knew, but never wanted to get his hopes up.

He made sure to describe how stunning you were in every letter he wrote. It was important for you to know how perfect you were. So perfect, that you didn't deserve to be around anyone else. No one would ever love you as much as Elliott did.

Despite the countless gifts he had received from you, despite you seeming to know his schedule down to a T, he was still determined he needed to win your affection over. All because he needed more.

He needed to hold you. He needed to taste you. He needed to marry you. He needed you.

"Hey, Elliott!"

The writer turned opened his door, delighted to see you. It was a rainy day, which was when he always stayed inside, save for stalking you at specific hours. You'd usually visit him on rainy days, and naturally he'd always be quick to invite you in. He knew you were likely coming over, which was why he already had a nice dinner prepared and everything.

"Come in, please," he said, holding the door open. You hurried inside and removed your wet raincoat, hanging it on the coat rack. Elliott headed straight for the kitchen, where he dished out the dinner he had prepared, along with the spiked wine.

He didn't have any awful intentions, of course! He just... wanted you to himself for a little longer than you normally stayed. That wasn't so wrong, was it? He wanted to savor this.

Besides, it wasn't like it was the first time he had done this.

"How are you?" he asked, sitting down at the table across from you. He waited eagerly for you to take a sip of the wine.

"I'm okay," you replied, giving him a smile that made his heart melt. "Just exhausted. I spent all day working."

He knew. He watched you.

"Then let me give you a nice relaxing time," he suggested, making sure to sound polite as he could. "Drink some more wine. Tell me all about your day." He didn't even realize his lovesick smile listening to you talk. He was excited for you to become sleepy and less aware of your surroundings. Then he could hold you and kiss you and you wouldn't even remember a thing the next morning.

It was honestly the only thing keeping him from going insane. He could be creepy as he wanted with you and you wouldn't even care. Although he'd use the term "romantic" instead.

After he nearly finished his own drink, he noticed his mind becoming hazy. He was a bit of a lightweight, he'd admit, but it took more than one glass to get him feeling like this. He tried to blink the dizziness from his own eyes, and could make out your eyes on him and a smirk on your face.

"Oh no, are you okay? You don't look so good," you feigned innocence. Even through his hazy state, Elliott could hear the smug grin in your voice.

"D-Did... did you...? Are you...?" He couldn't form a coherent sentence.

"Yep," you confirmed. "You've done it to me several times now, figured I'd return the favor. It's only fair, right?"

He should have been angry or upset about this, but he wasn't. Instead, his cheeks turned bright red as he stared at you in a dumbfounded awe. He didn't know what he was feeling right now, but it definitely wasn't anger. Arousal, anticipation, delight... maybe a mixture of all three.

"To be fair," you continued, "I never was really drugged. Just pretended to be, because I wanted to see what you would do." His breath hitched when you straddled his lap, holding his tie in your hand. "Just to see how far you'd take things."

"Y-You..." He never thought he'd see the day where his words failed him. But how was he supposed to speak when you were on his lap looking so delectable? He subconsciously licked his lips as he drank in every detail of your body. The way your chest rose and fell, your breaths as heavy as his, your eyes clouded with lust. He could only imagine how much of a fool he looked right now.

"Did you really think I wouldn't notice?" Your voice was soft, sweet. "Did you think I'd never find out?"

Elliott paused for a moment before chuckling. He rested his hands on your thighs and massaged them gently. "You know me too well, darling." He placed a gentle kiss to your throat. "How did you know?"

"How did I know you were spiking my drinks?" You giggled and kissed his ear. "Because you're not subtle at all." You licked a stripe down his neck, enjoying the shivers you felt from him. "And because I want you just as much as you want me."

He placed his forehead against yours and let out a shaky sigh. "I... I'm very relieved to hear that." He didn't even bother to hide his erection pressing against you. "If I could, I'd tell you just how much I adore you. But..." He trailed off, growing more deadweight. His head fell forward against your chest as he struggled to keep his eyes open. "I love you. I love you so much."

You rolled your eyes at how dramatic he was being. "You'll be fine, love," you whispered. "And I love you, too."

Despite Elliott falling limp into your arms, he refused to loosen his grip on you the entire night. Or the morning to come.

[respectthepetty]

hey! Sorry for the incoherent thoughts here but I finally watched the your dear daddy trailers and the way u keep talking about the colors and likening sila to being the Angel that lifts tharn up makes me think about how at some parts of the pilot it shows like, a huge difference in platform between them? Like the part where Sila and Tharn first meet in the club, Tharn is waaaay at the bottom of the floor looking up at Sila and Sila is looking down at him…I’ll need to rewatch the pilot to see how much they kinda emulate that

(the other one I can think of rn is near the end where sila is kneeling 🧎‍♀️ by tharn’s feet)

Idk I just wouldn’t have noticed these at all if u didn’t point out the symbolism haha

THIS!

This is the energy I love to see, Anon!

Because there is clearly a height difference between the two leads.

But the way the trailer escalates that difference is brilliant.

I'm trying not to analyze the pilot too much, but as you so beautifully mentioned, it's very interesting that Saitharn, a man who doesn't believe in a higher power, immediately gravitates to Sila who 1) is initially shown to be physically higher than him and 2) has power.

I already stated that I liked that even though Sila enters the club in the red and off-centered,

He instantly walks into Saitharn's blue and centers himself.

But the blue also envelopes him as a he looks down on Saitharn.

And we get that visual again - Sila in the center, higher, and looking down at his farm. His home. His tiny universe where he is the master.

However, Sila doesn't mingle with his people.

He watches them from a distance.

He doesn't even speak directly to them. His right-hand man gives Siatharn his gear while Sila just observes the exchange.

He is an omnipresent god.

And I'm going to go out on a limb and state he probably didn't want that responsibility.

However, Saitharn seems to have changed this.

Sila saves Saitharn.

Sila helps Saitharn.

Sila protects Saitharn.

And even though Sila is still a god and higher than Siatharn, each time he interacts with Siatharn, the space between them shortens.

Until Sila is on his knees, worshiping his god.

So I think we are getting a story about two men who lost their way and gave each other something to believe in. I think Sila saves Siatharn from himself physically and emotionally, while Saitharn will give Sila a reason to care and embrace humanity.

And even though I doubt Your Dear Daddy will give me this level of happiness, I do love when a god (who is white-color coded because he is heavenly yet actually devoid of color and love) wants to be seen as a man.

And the way that god's love helps a blue boy rise.

But, yeah, I'm not thinking that deeply about the pilot trailer.

*I have not been normal about this since it dropped and I will NEVER be normal about it*

[periwinkla]

haha I’m back again haha-

If there was one thing you could change about the ace attorney story what would it be?

Personally it would be having the gap between where Phoenix and miles were in contact be a lot shorter. Because sometimes people forget Phoenix kinda stalked miles, they knew eachother for like a few months when they were 9 years old! So it is kinda creepy that Phoenix just stopped everything for him because he “looked sad.” The thing is we don’t even have confirmation that Phoenix tried contacting him. It would also make more sense if they were constantly talking to each other and it just stopped. Phoenix would have a better reason for the going into law school for a friend then “hE wAs sAd.” It’s honestly insane that nobody actually questions this for more than a minute! Like yeah, it’s the ace attorney universe. But are you telling me that no one thought ���oh my god that is absolutely insane you need to talk to a therapist!” Anyways tell me what you think!

Haha hello again, anon :) (a few SOJ spoilers for the 1st paragraph) I don't think I would change any major event, but... I think I would change the way Trucy's relationship (or lack thereof) with some characters is depicted. Apart from the final SOJ scene with Edgeworth, it feels like Trucy doesn't have much of a relationship with the first trilogy's characters. In SOJ Maya doesn't mention her at all, even though it would make sense to have a dialogue with her asking Phoenix how his daughter was doing.... so maybe, if I were to change any part of the story, it would be for Edgeworth to notice she stuck in his suitcase a bit earlier so that she can take part in 6-5 at least. What she was even doing throughout the whole mayhem still baffles me... please don't tell me she was in the suitcase the whole time... I understand your point, although at least for me it just represents a character flaw & relationship flaw, and I find it interesting. I don't think it's something that's ever treated as a 'normal' decision in-game, either (Maya is flabbergasted when he tells her the reason he became a lawyer, for example). It shows how easily he gets attached to people and obsessed with saving them. It's an actual problem he has as a character. Also the class trial sells to me the narrative that Phoenix was a bit of an outcast in childhood (he had only Larry as a friend which is also mentioned to have had a not-so-good childhood).  And in such a circumstance there was this one person to stick out for him so vehemently. Then he sees that same person - someone he saw as a hero - in a newspaper depicted as a demon who would do anything for a guilty verdict, and he can’t accept it. Phoenix does this to an extreme degree, but he does everything in his life to extreme degrees, really. And it seems like to him, as long as he gets to save people, nothing is a big deal. Like ‘yeah this is just a thing I need to do to save that person’. It’s no biggie to change life paths to save someone, it’s no biggie to swallow a necklace, it’s no biggie crossing a bridge on fire, it’s no biggie adopting a kid at 26 when your life is in shambles. I like that Phoenix and Miles’s relationship is not an idyllic love story thing. Phoenix’s tendency to get too attached, obsessed, and fixated on saving people is one of his character flaws, which is something he needs to work on. Miles’s tendency to self-isolate and do everything by himself contrasts with that and they both need to learn from each other, really. Both are incredibly unhealthy. What drives this point home is 2-4 for me, because Phoenix makes Miles’s death all about himself, like it’s somehow his responsibility. When it really isn’t. Miles had to take some time for himself and figure himself out. It’s the way he did it that was wrong. They’re both wrong here.

By the way Phoenix confirms he tried to contact him, we just don't know the 'how'. I suspect he may have just phoned/sent something to the Prosecutor's office, but who knows. Miles didn't reply, regardless. Unless he sent like, dozens of stuff to the Prosecutor's office, I wouldn't define that as stalking; he also never even tries to be in his vicinity if not in the courtroom. By his logic, he only can get through to him via the law, after all. By showing him and reminding him what Miles himself taught him as children. That's why he became a defense attorney and not something like... I dunno, a detective? Would have been easier to talk to him if they worked together, no? But that wasn't the point. He wanted to inspire Miles to go back to being the person who inspired him when they were children. That's my understanding, anyway. (also I like to consider the fact that the whole Dahlia fiasco reminded him of the feeling of being accused, but I'd ramble so I'll stop here... there's a lot behind his decision to become a lawyer) I do think it would have been nice if they had at least a few more months together as children though. In the game it’s ambiguous when the class trial takes place (and the JP school year starts in April) so initially I had thought they were friends for something like 8ish months… but in the anime it’s set in September. To me this may imply that Phoenix didn’t have a nice childhood either; maybe it wasn't tragic, but he was lonely enough that he hanged on the memory of those 3-4ish months because those were his most precious ones. It’s… sad.

P.S. Sorry if I rambled too much anon, I tend to overanalyze stuff.

[averageallogene]

What are your thoughts on Tighnari x Modern!reader? Like reader gets transported into Genshin, and Tighnari finds them wondering around the forest confused or sum like that! I feel like that could be something interesting to think about. Thank you, and have a lovely day <3

Gender neutral reader ; fluff. Scenario format.

notes. Hello dear anon! ♡ That's such an interesting idea, I feel like Tighnari would definitely be one of the most fun characters to come across a modern reader! I hope you enjoy the ideas and I apologize for the wait! Enjoy! ✧˖°.

Tighnari would definitely, at first, be a little ticked off upon finding some lost soul so dangerously prowling through the Avidya Forest! All his hardwork only to have people ignore his well deserved warnings had him prematurely growing white hairs, seriously.

He would at first watch from afar as the person, seemingly confused, walked slowly as their eyes gawked at the fauna and flora around them, fingers carefully brushing through the folliage as they attempted to figure out their surroundings. He would jump into actino however, upon noticing how they approached some fungi with a smile on their face- Did they not know they were a dangerous threat!?

Turns out, they didn't. The unknown individual would nearly scream at the sight of one of his arrows flying through the air, hastily dealing with the problem. The forest ranger would watch as they fell back, eyes soon landing on him before inquiring why did he do that.

"Why? Because they're a danger, isn't that obvious?" Would be the first words he'd ever throw at them, hand resting on his hip before his eyes narrowed. "Hey, you listening to me?"

They weren't. I mean, how could they? They had someone with real ears and a tail in front of them, wagging and wiggling at every little sound. The sudden urge to touch them was strong, but they had to find out where they were first and foremost.

Tighnari was definitely a little ruthless at first, even if there were some alarm bells that the person before him wasn't from Teyvat. Hinsight's 20/20, and their clothing definitely should've been enough for him to inquire more. Still, his attitude definitely stemmed from the worry of them being injured.

It would all change upon them bashfully cutting him off. "Yes, yes, I understand but- Where exactly... Am I? What place is this?"

Well, Tighnari had been with the traveler before, so despite the initial surprise of their question, he quickly realized what was the issue. It was as though the pieces finally connected, his tongue clicking silently before he offered an apology for any worried smothering.

He helped them get up, checking for any injuries before they made their way back to Gandharva Ville. Their eyes would wander between the forest and his ears, but he simply ignored as he explained to the best of his abilities. He went into deep detail to try and ensure they grasped their situation, explaining a little bit of their history all the while.

"A rainforest... So like the Amazon!" Their eyes would sparkle as they thought aloud, Tighnari hesitantly responding with a 'yes?' even though he had no idea what the 'Amazon' was. He would definitely inquire about it later, he first had to ensure they recieved food and water.

Only upon ensuring they were alright and rested, would Tighnari ask more personal information like their name! After all, he wished to let them know they were safe with the Forest Rangers. Thankfully, despite the initial shock, they were cooperative and overall positive. Perhaps it was due to the initial shock of being somewhere far from home.

He would listen super attentively to everything they had to say! From their name, where they were from, what was it like... The researcher would simply nod his head and even take a few notes, most likely for some follow up questions he'd save for later.

"It's like you're my therapist, taking those notes, haha!"

"A 'therapist'?"

Oh boy.

Praise the Archons they were very patient, for Tighnari's curiosity knew no bounds. In truth, it was endearing. His tail would wag slowly from side to side, his ears twitching ocasionally as he hummed over whatever they had to say. He most definitely took notice, that was something he was used to, after all. A few days later he even took the initiative to ask something regarding the constant staring.

"Do you want to touch them? They're quite fluffy."

"Can I?!" Their excitement was adorable, in truth.

He bent his head down so they could reach his ears, their touch much more soft than what was the norm. Tighnari let them explore his ears with a small smile, followed by his tail. His trained eye knew it wasn't something they were used to seeing, yet still he asked.

"Do you... Not have hybrids back where you're from?"

"No! These aren't a thing back home, so that's why- Oh Goodness they're so soft."

Cute.

Throughout the course of their stay, he would inquire if they'd feel comfortable sharing more about their home, and the two of them would sit together as he listened more about their life before they had stumbled upon Teyvat. Tighnari got to learn a lot of strange things, like what a smartphone was. How exactly could... A small, artificial rectangular device be smart, he had no idea, but he surely wouldn't let Cyno know of that term no matter what. He already cringed with the jokes even when miles away.

Another topic Tighnari liked to revisit often was the botany field. He'd inquire if they had similar flowers to the ones in Pardis Dhyai, the two having tranquil walks as he listened to interesting facts about the flora of their home, if they knew any. He would ask questions that would be nothing less than endearing to them, inquiring aloud how if they had no Padisarahs how would they season their food, for instance. And speaking of food! Him and Collei adored cooking for them, watching with curiosity if they enjoyed the food Sumeru had to offer. Turns out, they themselves knew how to cook pretty well, so it was a treat whenever they would cook a specialy of their home, or the closest thing possible given the difference in ingredients!

And despite the good times and the seemingly seamless adaptation process, homesickness was bound to come. Tighnari was more than aware of it, so he would do next to anything he could to try and help them cope. If they have any particular hobbies, he would do his best to indulge with them. Drawing? He's not great, but he'll join them. Writing? He'll offer to read whatever they write, if they want! Music? Perhaps they can visit the Grand Bazaar and search for an instrument for them. Speaking of the Grand Bazaar, some strolls through Sumeru City are sure to help! Hell, even if Cyno's joke's help ease the melancholy, he will deal with them for a month straight if needed.

He would also exchange more regular mail with the traveler, inquiring if they'd yet found a way to return to their own home. Perhaps they had an idea how to do so? Or even better, maybe they could meet his new friend? After all, only someone who shares the same homesickness can perhaps have a deeper conversation regarding the emotions that such a thing stirrs within. Even if he'd like for them to stay... He totally understands if in the long run that isn't a viable option. Tighnari will support them either way.

Case and point, Tighnari is a great friend, going the extra mile for those he cares about. ♡

[aingeal98]

Hi, so I was reading some of your Stephanie Brown meta & kudos, serious props yours is excellent. I also noticed you seem to be among those who picked up on the worrying undercurrent of Stephanie's relationships with older men. So double kudos for that.

Especially as its one of those things that tends to get glossed over in fandom & I am unsure at times if some writers even grasped what they were doing. Though that may say more about how girls tend to be treated/viewed as adults rather than children, teenagers or victims, save when its convenient to judge them as such.

Sorry not sure where I am going with this, but I think your stance it from that "Five ships that won't happen" section of the Steph ask as well thought out and covered a lot, so third kudos just for tackling that heavy topic so deftly and efficiently.

Ah thank you! Stephanie's relationship with men is so fascinating to me because she's been hurt so many times and the dissonance between her canon and fanon versions are pretty grim yet interesting. Like in early canon she was the Faith to Ariana's Buffy, the Veronica to the Bettys that were Tim's other love interests at the time. And various writers had various ideas about why she was the way she was, a common theme being that she had difficult relationships with the men in her life and had been hurt in the past. Be it a villain, a friend of her fathers, Cluemaster himself, or a shitty clearly too old guy named Dean. I don't think it was meant to be a pattern, more likely just individual ideas about trauma Steph suffered in her past that ended up turning into a consistent trait.

So you've got an abusive father, at least two cases of SA that I can remember (her babysitter and Black Mask), a pregnancy with clear subtext that the father was older than her, and the general way Batman treats her.

Not to mention she was a minor when all this happened. Like Steph has so many issues that she deserves the chance to unpack but instead they've just kind of... softened her down. Like her Batgirl run was the first chance she'd gotten to be the actual hero instead of The Girl in a story written by sexists, and she deserved every second of that. There had been too much injustice done to her character and her Batgirl run did a good job at setting the baseline for giving her a decent narrative. But afterwards, the New 52 could have delved more into her psyche instead of leaning into her waffles and sparkles fanon characterization. But because the New 52 is the worst, it didn't. And now here we are.

It's one of the reasons I'd really love to write a story about Steph realising she's bisexual, because I think in some ways her view of men are due to feeling trapped by heterosexuality and the patriarchal society. It's hard to explain fully without going into a whole other meta but the way she reacts to Tim showing her bare minimum decency is heartbreaking. Like yes men are awful and have been awful to her but she still likes them, she's going to settle down and marry one eventually right? She just has to find the right one, and Tim didn't treat her like complete garbage so he might be it for her!

And then for her to realise that no, she doesn't. She can marry a man if she wants to but if she wants romance there's also women... I really think bi Steph could be so much more than a simple "Oh hey I like girls now cool lol." Like it would shake a significant amount of the misogyny she's internalised and directed towards herself, it could alter the view she's taken of the world, and it would allow her to see her past trauma through a different lens, maybe with less subconscious self hatred.

Sorry this turned into a giant ramble haha, but thank you for the ask!

[kurisus]

Noragami: Final Chapter thoughts

For the last time :') I've been making these for roughly half the manga's runtime, both in chapter count and years. Which is wild to think, but anyway, spoilers under the cut. One final time.

I really spent the first half of this chapter with bated breath alternating between being relieved that Hiyori is okay and grew up to be a doctor and everything, and stressed about where Yato was and where her memories were. Then Yato showed up, and I think I burst into tears out of hysterics. They really got me, I thought he was gone.

That aside, it was an excellent chapter. I was right when I said that this would just be an epilogue and the true suffering was over, but god. god. I'm relieved they gave me that open ending and the chapter was mostly good old-fashioned Noragami silliness. With the expected gut punches.

It's probably a good thing that Yuka never got to reunite with her brother, but at least knows that he's resting in peace. That he was given a proper burial by someone who, at the time, barely knew him but wanted to make things right anyway. Great now I'm crying again.

Hiyori's pocket with the little capyper keychain she bought forever ago. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

Yato's CPR being so intense it cracked Hiyori's ribs. god he was so desperate to save her. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

HER TOUCHING HER LIPS WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Fujisaki getting nostalgic seeing tall grass (as we know from the omake is called kaya) was weirdly touching. Though Father has faded, Kaya is the one that is still remembered. We never got to learn his real name, and while I am still curious about it, I can see the purpose--by not knowing his name, we the readers don't give him a lifeline.

That's not the only fourth wall lean in the final chapter. There was also Yato being able to save himself by becoming a meme, much like how the fandom and Adachitoka have memed on him for years as well.

Back to the chapter, it looks like Father's consciousness had always been lurking alongside Fujisaki's, maybe making him do things from time to time, which is really weird and creepy. Maybe he was dormant until the Yomi arc, but either way he's been doing this to a dozen other guys over the centuries. I'm glad the cycle was broken.

It's hilarious that Fujisaki tries to ask Hiyori out and she's just like haha not interested coo phone be upon ye.

I'm so glad the cherry blossom party has become an annual tradition with even more gods invited to the party. I'm also so glad that Yato refuses to release Kazuma and Bishamon apparently makes it a point to bully him about this whenever she sees him. But also, Kazuma doesn't seem to want to be released. He's just like yeah whatever man I'm glad you saved us. Cheers.

Side note, Kazuma's new glasses look a lot like the ones he was wearing in that 100 years ago flashback of him and Bishamon, around chapter 68 or 69 I think?

So we also get to see the aftermath of what happened to Yukine--he still transforms into a wolf every now and then, because much like how Nora transforms into a snakelike creature whenever she loses control of her emotions, his form is a wolf, and unlike Nora he's always been very emotional. So the nightmares come out and Yato's left with a giant wolf thrashing around in their shared living space lol, but at least his dad is there to hug him :')

WAIT STOP PAUSE EVERYTHING IT LOOKS LIKE THEY SHARE A BED NOW. I JUST COLLAPSED INTO A BALL.

AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH

The panel of Yato hugging him made me lose it again. THEY'RE SOOOOOOOO.

So we never did get to find out what happened to Yukine's father--but as I pointed out in the reread I did during December, I don't think it matters. Yukine wasn't going to exact revenge on him anyway because he's not the kind of person to do so.

The page of Nora reading Hiyori's diary also made me so sad. Hiyori's right--she probably did have parents who loved her, but she never got to meet them. One thing I noticed throughout this manga is shinki habitually chasing something relating to their pasts. Yukine craves a good relationship with a father figure, Kazuma is obsessed with Bishamon because he missed out on marrying a girl he loved, Daikoku acts like a dad to every child he meets because he died before having his own kids, and like Yukine, Hiiro craves the parental love she never had. And as Hiyori pointed out, being given a name by Father was like being given life.

Since we didn't get to see what became of her name situation, but Yukine still bears the Hagusa name, she must still have Mizuchi. If her master is gone, can she still draw borderlines? Does she hang around with Yato and Yukine still? Adachitoka didn't say Kofuku DIDN'T name her, so...

The way Hiyori remembered Yato because of his scent had me SOBBING, yall. She didn't forget, but she did solve her problem and it was solved by people, just like they've been saying throughout the manga. But now, they can be together again. Yato was away from her for some years, and maybe he'll leave for several more (it's been a repeated thing in the manga that he'll insist he has to stay away for her own good), but the point is that even if it's been years and years, she'll always remember him. It's open-ended, but that just means it can be my preferred ending of Hiyori not forgetting but choosing to distance herself. She'll meet up with Yato and Yukine every once in a while living her own, separate, fulfilling life. They've been watching over her all these years anyway.

And so, that brings us to the close. It's as happy an ending as we could have possibly gotten, and above all else, I'm relieved. I've been saying for...years, probably, that I want an open ending, but I really thought it was off the table with recent events.

Final hangups are the same as they were in my final reread (tagged under #Noragami reread on my blog), so I won't repeat them, but the bottom line is that I got everything I wanted out of this ending--except maybe a trio hug? But that interior illustration of the four of them, all smiling and happy, Yato's arm around his sister, made up for that. I kind of wish there was a Yatori kiss for real, but the panel of her touching her lips also assuaged that.

Anyway, I'm not sure what other manga would/will make me unhinged enough to type up monthly thoughts posts for years, but I'll be tuned in to whatever new Adachitoka has coming up. Whether it's a full series, a short series, or just a oneshot, I'll be reading every word. I'm also looking forward to getting the final volume once it releases here, and praying for an artbook announcement.

Thank you for reading! I have some posts to make, some projects to plan, and I'll be diving into the tag once more for old times' sake. This won't be the last of me!

[shunin-gumis]

Nagi initial SSR Story

A Taste of Happiness (Part 1)

Please note that this story has some spoilers on Nagi's background (about his luck) that's related to the L4mps main story!

I've used Momiji as MC's name, Chief is their title.

Any notes with a * are at the end of the post.

Location - Flower Laundry

Momiji: It's a good thing we had our meeting near 'Flower Laundry'. This coffee stain should come off easily.

Momiji: I should check on Yachiyo-kun tomorrow, he apologized so many times he almost made a dent in the ground grovelling.

Momiji: Good morning Nagi-ku-

Nagi: Welcome...

Momiji: Huh!?

Momiji: Wha- you're clearly not ok, how did this happen!?

Nagi: I was just working as usual.

Nagi: But earlier, one of the customers I made a flower arrangement for gave me some sweets as thanks, so I was about to take a break, but all of a sudden a hamster was running towards me.... ah, it's not just any hamster, it's probably Machiko, the one that the kindergarten nearby takes care of.

Nagi: Anyways, I tried my best to get out of Machiko's way, but then I noticed the trampoline that Akuta's group had left here...

Nagi: I ended up landing on it and bounced back all the way up through the ceiling for a homerun.

Momiji: I think I got the gist... I'll get you down now!

Nagi: Phew... you saved me, I owe you my life.

Sonia: You also saved our ceiling! Thank you very mush~

Momiji: Don't mention it, I got the coffee stain off cleanly thanks to you.

Nagi: I'm glad if I was able to help you in any way.

Nagi: I'm sorry that I can't keep you company any longer though, Chief.

Nagi: The deliveries and other work I was supposed to get done got delayed, so I should head out soon...

Momiji: If you don't mind, I could help you out? I drove the company van here.

Momiji: I'm all done with my work today, it should be ok as long as I just shoot Kafka a message.

Nagi: Are you sure?

Nagi: Ah, but there's been a warning for a weather bomb since morning. You might get dragged into a lot of trouble because of my unlucky predisposition*

Momiji: Haha, that's not a problem at all! In fact, it'll probably give me a lot of practice for future troubleshooting. Bring it on!

Nagi: ...Thank you. Then, I'll take you up on your kind offer.

Nagi: Can I ask you to help with the deliveries first-

A scary person: Hey you!! Pay back your debt already!!

Nagi: I'm terribly sorry, I'll pay back the interest first, how much is it?

Momiji: Wait! Don't take out your wallet!!

----------------------

Momiji: ...The delivery ended safely. But Nagi-kun's trouble encounter rate really is impressive.

Momiji: First it was the loan shark who came to collect a debt at the wrong place-

Momoji: Everything's loaded. Where do we have to take them?

Nagi: The shopping mall is up first.

Nagi: There's several new stores opening soon, so they requested the deliveries. We can split up the load once we get there.

------------------

Construction worker: Sorry, there's construction underway here, please take a detour.

Momiji: We literally just passed through here earlier though!?

-----------------

Momiji: Then we'd been forced to take a detour because of sudden construction work, and after that...

Momiji: A random elementary school student challenged us to a race, pizza crusts came flying at us out of nowhere, I barely had time to catch my breath with everything going on.

Momiji: It must be really difficult if he has to go through this every time a weather bomb happens....

Nagi: ..............

Nagi: .....Chief, we should go stock up on flowers next.

Nagi: The weather app shows that the atmospheric pressure has stabilized now, so nothing bad should happen like before, it should be smooth sailing from here. Let's go on my bike.

Nagi: Here's a helmet, wear it tight.

Sonia: Nagi-shan, Chief-shan, pleash be careful.

Sonia: I've packed the usual tools in your bag, pleash take it with you!

Nagi: Thank you, Sonia... We'll be back.

*Nagi has a predisposition that makes him attract misfortune whenever he's feels happy.

Nagi uses the weather app to track sudden changes in atmospheric pressure/weather bombs because that's his way of knowing he's going through a "luck rebound"

Part 2

[hils79]

Hils Watches Lovely Runner - Ep 7

I was so confused about what was going on but I think this is what happened in the original timeline before she started changing things

I'm going straight under the cut now because I don't want to put spoilers where people might see them

See when everyone described what happened to her as a car accident first of all I assumed she was in a car that crashed, then maybe that a car had hit her and knocked her off her bike. I did not have 'deliberately mown down by a serial killer' anywhere near my radar. That is in no way an accident. And it's not like no one knows because it happened right in front of Sunjae.

Uh...what the fuck? She changed what happened to her and now she's super in the past???

I have no idea what's triggering the time jumps. The first time was right after Sunjae died. Which, fair enough, she travelled back to save him. Then when Taesung asked her out she travelled back to 2023. She travelled back to 2009 when Inhyuk told her Sunjae had wanted to apologise to her for something and now she's prevented herself from being hit by a car she's ended up in ???? Joseon era???

I'm just trying to figure out if there's a pattern or something specific that triggers it.

Oh, lol, it's a film set. I should have figured.

Oh no she took the job at the shitty company that wouldn't employ her because she was in a wheelchair

Okay, I'm suspicious. She's stopped herself from getting hit by a car and paralysed, and Sunjae is still alive in 2023. We're not even at the halfway point so clearly something is amiss somewhere...

GASP! There is a woman in Sunjae's apartment. Has the time travel shenanigans made him fall in love with someone else?

HAHA! Okay, never mind

Oh no all her fangirl stuff has been replaced with normal stuff. OF COURSE! She only became a fan after Sunjae gave her that speech while she was in the hospital after being hit by the car. If she wasn't there for him to give the speech, she never became his fan.

Ooh so is the rest of the story going to be her trying to get Sunjae to fall back in love with her? Which will be interesting because currently he thinks she's a stalker

I realise I am speaking as a person whose room is full of merch from my various fandoms but god her room looks so boring now

She doesn't have the man she loves but she does have pretty shoes. That seems like a fair trade to me.

OOOOH! Grandma remembers the previous timelines!

Uh oh the date of her kidnapping has changed so something is clearly afoot

Wait does she even know how to drive?

Ehehe! Well, that didn't take long

Maybe tell someone your best friend just went into labour and you have to leave instead of running away from an important meeting (with the man you love) without saying anything

And how do you not notice you just knocked someone face first into a water feature?

Oh I really hope her husband is Im Sol's brother

HAHA! I knew it!

It's funny because she literally did run into him earlier that day

It's going to get to the point where even just hearing Jongho's song is going to make me cry because I'll be thinking of all these sad scenes

Aww he still has their photo even in this timeline

Oh my god he's taken out a restraining order against her! Does he still not know the name of his 'stalker'? Well, this can be something they can laugh about when they're old and married. "Remember that time you pushed me in a fountain and I filed a restraining order against you."

LMAO she literally just signed the restraining order like an hour ago and now she's trying to see him at his concert. I don't think she understands how restraining orders work.

I do hope this storyline gets resolved soon though I'm sad when they're not together on screen.

YAY but also OH NO because maybe the day of Sunjae's death has just changed to today?

[darlenicy]

I got tagged by @rosie-love98 on this:

Tag 9 People you want to get to know better

Thank you and sorry, that it took me so long!

3 ships:

Okay, since I’m tagged on this tumblr account I’ll first go with WINX of course.

1. Driven (Darcy x Riven - Winx Club)

I’ll say it over and over again – they’re perfect. THE POTENTIAL: OMG: If Rainbow had be braver and didn’t focus SO much on Bloom, they could’ve added such an angsty storyline. They build the grounding but never made it to detail and that’s a shame. I may repeat myself, but Darcy was the first one to listen to Riven. To really listen and maybe even the first person after a long time to actually care for him. Of course, she is beautiful and she used that beauty to enchant him but what mattered in the end was that Riven finally found someone who was really interested in him. Someone who saw his ambition and talent. Someone who didn’t see the sparkly outside of perfect Sky and Brandon but who saw this man, who I bet went trough a lot to achieve the right to study at Red Fountain. Finally, someone interested in the one who trained hard to be where was and who wasn’t privileged like other people. Another thing I love about them is the trust and faith Riven had in Darcy who.. in the end destroyed that YES THANKS RAINBOW.  I mean, he never questioned her even though he knew that the Trix’ plans were evil. He did not care about that. Only for her. The betrayal must have been hard. But what about Darcy? How did she feel? Well, we never saw it but regarding her character she might be an overthinker who thinks everything through, who is afraid to show her true self. Darcy seems to be the one who is afraid of losing control and of being betrayed herself. So better destroy than get destroyed? I’m sure she opened up to Riven to some extend and got caught by her own fear of losing control and then overreacted. Maybe. Who know. But the thing is that their end came completely out of the nowhere and I wished the writers had focused a bit more on that instrad of making a cut so that another fairy had a love interest by the end of season 1. It also should have been more focus on their relationship in the following seasons. (I miss the longing stares omg. We could have so much angsty drama!) I think the end of the relationship was not easy for both of them. Darcy lost everything at the end of season 1 and I’m sure she questioned herself a lot after it. Like, what would have happened if etc. And Riven, even more broken than before. What did he think? It’s no secret, that most characters in this show need therapy but these two? Couple therapy maybe lol (now this was long, but that’s when I talk about ships haha)

2. Brella (Brandon and Stella - Winx Club)

I don’t really talk about the fairies here, but I love Brella. They are such a healthy and dynamic couple. Even as a kid I noticed how harmonic and devoted. I loved, that they got so much attention in the show and that they were the harmonic couple and not Sky and Bloom. They had the storyline in s1 I which Brandon disguised as Prince Sky and lied to her. He was afraid, that Stella would only like him as a prince. And yes, Stella might look superficial at first glance but in fact she is not. And I think she showed a lot of strength in forgiving Brandon who lied to her for a long time. She made no big deal of it even though she is a princess who could have easily married or dated a prince. But she chose Brandon. Then there is the Downland arc at the beginning of season 2 and it wouldn’t have worked with another couple. As I said, they are devoted to each other. Stella fkn jumped after him into that abyss without a second thought? Luckily they survived but then Amentia shows up and Stella almost dies because there is no sunlight in Downland. So to save her life, Brandon agrees to marry Amentia who then agrees to let Stella go. I could fangirl over this arc a lot but I won’t because it already gets too long here. Then s3 in which Stella thinks that it might be just her beauty which Brandon loves (which doesn’t make sense after what they went through) but I think the problem Stella has, is that she was always judged by her looks. She was raised to be a perfect princess and let’s face it, before she met Bloom and the Winx, she had no real friends. However back to the show, Brandon knew that Stella was transformed into that Monster but he did not care. Of course not. He was trying to help her no matter what, just to see her happy again. I won’t focus on the later seasons, because they might still have their cute moments there but after all there was too much beef going on between all the couples and I don’t consider these superficial seasons as canon so I’ll stop here. But Brella is chef’s kiss. The best Winx couple followed by Tecna and Timmy and no one can convince me otherwise.

3. Ethel Hallow x Nick Hobbes - Weirdsister College (Do they have a shipping name?)

Since it was rosie, who tagged me I think I have to take a ship which has nothing to do with Winx but which goes more in the direction of Harry Potter and The Worst Witch. And that is an easy one: Ethel Hallow x Nick Hobbes. OMG the potential, the POTENTIAL! Same as driven, they have so much unused potential even though they were on the best way to build an angsty couple with trust issues and all the drama my fangirl heart needs. I love how Nick noticed right away, that Ethel resembled him. She always played the nice and hardworking students but we all know that she was a devious bitch who used every opportunity to make Mildred look bad. And from her perspective, she did nothing wrong. It was always Mildred who stole the show by breaking the rules and being at school but was in the end the good girl who was appreciated. She always played by the rules (yeah not always but she tried her best) and was ambitious and just wanted to be the number one student, yet who interfered? Always Mildred. It’s no wonder she tried everything to get rid of her. Ethel just wanted a happy school life without interruptions. So she wasn’t innocent at all and Nick knew that. In the first episode of Weirdsister College, he immediately checked that he AND Ethel would not have a chance of passing the all-seeing-eye. He tricked Mildred so that she helped him and used that for him and Ethel to pass the ceremony. He’s the typical bad boy who took advantage of Mildred’s talent and gosh, I wished they hadn’t followed this weird storyline he has with Mildred. Because everything was already there with Ehtel: Both students who tried their best to become the top of the class, both power-driven and both unsure in the end. They have so much in common. And Ethel is, after all, the good girl who fell for the bad boy and she KNOWS that he’s doubtful. She does not trust him but is still fascinated by him. And I just love that trope, okay? Ehtel also gives me hardcore rl Darcy vibes and not, it’s not just because they have the same voice actress I Germany. They’re the dark edgy couple I live for. There could have been done so much if they gave us a second season…..It looked like they were giving up on the Mildred/Nick storyline by episode 9 which was again one big flirt of Ethel and Nick. (The potential!) This is why I hate the way they went on the last episode where it’s like “It’s only you who can save him, Mildred” bullshit. I’m doomed for loving couples the writers seem to hate. I could write an essay about them and I probably will on @yaviae somewhen.

Look at them! Ethel's side eye <3

Last song:

Seventeen by Marina

Last Movie:

Crimson Peak (And again I love the doomed couple: Lucille and Thomas, omg my loves)

Currently reading:

Schneewittchens dunkler Kuss (Snow White’s dark Kiss) by Stefanie Lasthaus

Currently watching:

World of Winx season 1

Currently drinking:

Just finished my tea (fennel <3)

Currently craving:

Inspiration! It’s Sunday and that means it’s my ff write day but I haven’t written anything. I’m so tired this weekend..

And I tag: @wtfastaroth @witch-cauany @aurora-of-the-fairies @cerisia76 @stellasolaris @alex-cold17 @no-white-dress @d-arcyky and of course @evdizav

[astridthevalkyrie]

chand ko chakor dekhe, tujkho naseebo wala (the bird looks at the moon, a lucky one looks at you) | hawks x reader | chapter 6

“You’ve died twice? From clocks? “I know you’re not blind to the rocks and debris flying literally everywhere! The world would be better off without you in it!” you scream at the villain. The machine is even louder as it breaks and jams into the ground. “Flying building pieces or something, I don’t know—one hit me yesterday. The first day I got knocked into a wall, and then I woke up hugging my body pillow. Same thing the next day. And the next, and the next. Did my number three pro hero partner save me? No, he let me get stuck in a fucking time loop!” Or, you’ll do a lot of things with infinite time on your hands, but falling in love with Keigo Takami isn’t one of them.

a/n: yesssss update's out have a fun time reading!

warnings: suicide attempts (with the understanding that she will reset), hawks pins reader to a building, rudeness, icky romantic stuff 🤮

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

“Whoa.” Your hands come up in front of your chest as the kid’s arm crackles—crackles?—with lightning. “Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa hang on, I don’t fight children!”

You don’t think the nerd hears you, because he’s jumping forward with wide, fearful, despaired eyes. “Detroit”—of course he’s an All Might copycat, USA lover, star spangled stripes, would still smash their number one hero, though more like she’d smash you because she’s super strong—”SMAAASH!”

Fuck your life. Truly.

—————————————————

You go back to the beach the next today. Not to kill All Might again, even if you did cheat and break the vow you’d made to yourself the first day you officially started training to be a hero (haha your soul is broken you’re going to hell except you’re not because you’re stuck in a time loop and ohmygosh maybe this is hell maybe when you got hit by the rock that first day you died what the shiiiiit). No no, you won’t kill him again, because you’re just far more interested in who this tiny little green loser is and just how he KOed you with one punch.

That’s not, like, easy. You killed the top ten heroes minus the dumb bird! By right of passage, that makes you the number one! Or at least the number two if Hawks is de facto one even though he totally isn’t. He admitted MULTIPLE times that he would have just let you kill him. Who needs a flimsy number one hero like that?

Speaking of flimsy number one heroes.

You’re probably losing your mind more than you thought. Why are you looking at a chibi version of All Might?

Goddamn are heroes stupid! You’re perched up just barely out of view and neither the LITERAL NUMBER ONE or his protege have noticed you as they eat and yap about CLASSES of all things!

Okay, so when you killed All Might, he wasn’t exactly himself because he hasn’t had his Snickers bar yet or whatever. Which means you didn’t really kill the number one, and so the right of passage still leaves you at number two (yeah yeah, de facto Hawks number two, then you). 

So if Small Might (good one! that’s original!) can’t fight you, that would mean the real foe you’d need to defeat is YOUNG MIDRORIYA! Only problem is that YOUNG MIDORIYA! is a child and y’know, you’re not quite that comfortable in your amorality yet. Already you feel queasy every time you think about the way you killed LightMight. 

Still, one doesn’t just go around California Cabana-ing every single person they see, so when YOUNG MIDORIYA! starts walking back to whichever hovel he crawled out of, you follow him until you see someone trip in front of him, large drink in their hands. 

What would have soaked his shirt now completely coats his face with just a liiiiitle bit of wind.

Respect your elders, kid. You’ll never be the next Mini Might with that attitude. Although, that isn’t any reason to apologize that profusely to the lady that spilled the drink. No, there’s no need to buy her a new drink either, your face got soaked, not her’s, she was the one not looking where she was going. OFFERING AN AUTOGRAPH FROM ERASERHEAD? HUH? DID SHE LOSE HER DRINK OR DID SHE LOSE HER WHOLE GODDAMN FAMILY?

Oh, she doesn’t even know who Eraserhead is. Ha. That’s right, walk home with your sorry little green head all wet. That’ll teach you not to bribe civilians.

—————————————————

The next day, you wake up, ignore Hawks’ text first thing in the morning, open your window and jump out. Then you wake up in your bed again, and repeat. Repeat. Repeat. It’s entertaining for all of six minutes before the nothingness and despair becomes passionless.

What’s left? What more is there?

Well, it was kinda fun taking Ryukyu up to space (no it wasn’t?). You could try that again. Opening the window, you go up this time, instead of down.

Today, you’ll try to reach the sun.

First, you’re shot by someone who must think you were a stray bird. First, rude. Second, still illegal. Rot in jail. You love being a pro hero, the police do whatever you say with overt rudeness but begrudging submission. 

Second, you look into the sun too long and uh. Die. That one’s embarrassing.

Third, claws dig into your hips and yank you down. 

“Hey!” You scratch at the hands assisting gravity in bringing you closer to the ground. “What the hell, what are you doing? You never get here this early!”

“What are you doing? Where are you even going?”

“I will kick you in the balls if you don’t let me go, you dumb shit!”

“You’re so nice,” Hawks drawls, and his legs wrap around yours too, one arm around your front to pin your arms to the side. Now it’s only his wings keeping you afloat, his air giving you flight. It infuriates you, appealing muscles aside. “Someone just took a picture of us, by the way. Have fun explaining that one.”

You growl as fiercely as humanly possible, wriggling in his grasp. “Stupid stupid stupid bird impedes justice, gets murdered for it.”

“Too wordy for a hashtag.”

“Okay, how’s about—” It makes your chest hurt when you do it, but you suck in wind towards you using your own breath, and shoot it down to throw his arms away from you. “Hashtag I Did Hawks’ Dad!”

His wings flap as he falls, but he catches himself in no time. You’re propelling back up already, clouds not even within touching distance yet. Not that you wanna touch them. They’re really cold. Might as well touch Endeavor’s heart while you’re at it.

“For your information.” His nails graze your nape this time, and he grips the back of your uniform. With a grunt, he pulls you back again, too strong for those weak birdy bones. You shoot downwards, gasping. “That would make you a criminal fucker.”

You’re sideways, hair twisting in strange ways as you glare up at him. His wings expand impressively, blocking the sun and giving you a good look at a world of crimson gold. 

“Sorry about your dirtbag father. Can you get out of the fucking way?”

Hawks holds up a finger with a condescending look, pointing to his right, then his left. “See these? These are legitimate directions to fly in. Up is nothing. Up doesn’t have anything for you.”

“You’re a fake friend,” you spit, jetting up with a fist raised. 

He blocks, immediately raising his leg to kick you, but you saw that move coming because sometimes you watch his fight compilations for entertainment (and his compilations in real life too, duh). His foot connects with your arm, and the sunlight gleams in his visor. “Is that so? Elaborate for me.”

“Do you know how fucking bored I am? Do you have any idea how much I hate every single fucking person on this planet?”

You land a square hit on his chest; the victory is short lived. Feathers sneak into your sleeves and pull you down, ignoring your kicking and screaming.

“Who could you possibly hate?” he sings.

“You, for starters, winged piece of shit! And Endeavor, yeah, that’s right, dickrider. Cry about it. I hate All Might too—did you know he’s a fraud? And his stupid ass sidekick, or ex boyfriend, or whatever, I paid him a visit and every time he’s about to tell me my future I end up dying, because life hates me just as much as I hate life! I’m not even allowed to know how I go out! Ryuku and Best Jeanist think they can appeal to my better nature, well, I DON’T HAVE ONE! Oh, I hope you get to marry someone someday, Hawks, and I hope they cheat on you and take all your money.”

It might look like you’re flailing, but you’re not. You’re just trying to air out your own clothes to get the feathers out. The man who had taken a picture of you is not full on recording the fight you and Hawks are having.

You flash him two matching middle fingers. 

“Stop it,” Hawks snarls, apparently fed up now (one word against Endeavor and Fanboy Hawks comes out to play). “That shit’ll go viral, you know it will.”

“Sorry to ruin your perfect image, golden boy.” You finally rip the last feather out of your sleeve, biting it in half and spitting it out just to spite him. “Kiss my ass—fuck!”

You’re pinned. Fully against the building. The feathers aren’t under your clothes, they don’t need to be. They connect with each other to form a link that pins your ankles and wrists individually and before you can suck in any air a few more stuff into your mouth as a makeshift gag. Upside down. “I’m not worried about my image, songbird. Your popularity rating is at an all time low lately.”

Because you don’t pose for posers the way he does. And also maybe how not child friendly you are in interviews. Maaaybe because most of the other heroes don’t even like you enough to team up with you.

Not! That! It! Matters!

Hawks can read you well enough from your eyes. He maneuvers his body upside down to look at you face up, and looks into your gaze with a slight quirk of his lips. “What’s the matter, Nightingale? You hate hero society all of a sudden?”

NO SHIT.

“You wanna skip patrol today?”

NO.

“Why not?”

WE’LL BE CALLED TO FIGHT CLOCKINTHEHOLE ANYWAY AND IF WE DON’T GET THERE IN TIME PEOPLE GET INJURED AND YOU GET ALL SAD FOR THE REST OF THE DAY.

“Sorry, gonna need your mouth to transcribe that one.” The gag is lifted and before you can scream he covers your mouth with his hand, “Hey,” he coos, looking like his hair is flying up, “I’m serious. We can skip patrol, or I can do it on my own. I’ll cover for you, no problem.”

“Dude,” you choke, and the wetness running up your temple makes you realize you’re crying, “I wanna die.”

His face changes immediately, dropping every bit of his persona in an instant. The feathers loosen and release you, dropping you, and he catches you bridal style before you can turn on Aerial. 

“Alright, hang on.” His face is pained as he nudges your window open, carrying you in. “Hang on.”

The blood rushes back to your head, and the tears fall normally. He places you against your headboard, right next to the body pillow you always wake up next to. The sight of it makes you cry harder.

“Hey, hey.” Just like he did every time you tried to manipulate fighting tactics out of him to use against Endeavor, Hawks’ thumbs come up to brush your tears away. He sits at the edge of your bed, as though he’s visiting you in the hospital. “Hey, pretty girl, c’mon. Talk to me. Tell me everything. Let me help you.”

Your hands tangle in your own hair and your eyes shut, looking every bit the crazy lady you’ve become. “I want to fly into the sun. Please, just let me do that.”

“I can’t,” he pleads, taking his visor off and setting it aside. His jacket goes next, and he drapes it over you like the two of you aren’t indoors. And not on a date. He’s watched one too many cheesy romcoms. His favorite is John Tucker Must Die. You think that’s because he has mommy issues.

“I can’t,” he repeats, nudging himself next to you and moving your hands from your hair to your lap. His own hands go up to pat your hair down, and brush your shoulders, touch as light as a feather. 

He’s grooming you. Dumb bird. 

A painful sob escapes you, and you fall into him as he rubs your arms, your back, your hair. His bodysuit quickly becomes wet with your tears, but he doesn’t seem to mind, lips on your temple and arms tight around you. He even leans down and kisses a tear straight off your cheek.

“I’ve been living the same day again and again. I’ve lost count of the days. I killed people and I manipulated you and you keep helping me but nothing works. Everyday I have to go through this. Everyday the universe finds a way to kill me. I haven’t—” Your own wail cuts you off, and he squeezes you closer. “I haven’t seen nighttime in forever! I’ll forget what nighttime looks like soon, I’m so sick of the sun!”

He doesn’t say anything. Sometimes he believes you straight away, sometimes he doesn’t, but either way he eventually takes it in stride. He cheers you up. He takes you places or he talks and talks and talks until you’re laughing, laughing so hard you almost don’t feel the pain when you die.

His lips burn on your skin. He keeps them on your temple, warming you far more than his jacket does. 

“I hate telling you this every time,” you sniff, “I wish there was a way I could fast forward it.”

Still, he doesn’t talk. He moves instead, holding you to his heart like you’re.

Gold.

When Hawks does speak, his voice is thicker than normal, like he’s holding back something. Tears of his own, or a confession. Too many times he’s seen you vulnerable now, even if he doesn’t remember, and you don’t think you’ll ever see him in such a state. 

“If you wanna fly into the sun, I won’t stop you.”

You look at him. No hint of a lie in those golden eyes. Pulling away from the safety you’d embraced for a second, you sit back and swallow. “Yeah? No lie?”

“No lie. You’ll come back, right? The day will reset. So it’s okay.”

“Yeah.” Unless today is finally the last day. But you doubt it. You’ll know when it is. If it ever comes.

“Then you can go. Or…”

A few minutes ago, you’d have jumped out the window the second he stopped holding you back. “Or?”

“Or.” His tongue pokes into the side of his cheek. Thinking face. One of the few people who doesn’t have a dumb thinking face. This one actually looks like he’s thinking. “You let me take you somewhere.”

“Where?”

“Surprise,” he says softly, “you’ll like it. Promise.”

And you figure you can always fly into the sun tomorrow. The giant ass star isn’t going anywhere.

—————————————————

He’s had a hand over your eyes for a couple minutes now, guiding you inside…somewhere. Every few seconds he makes a shushing sound, to who you assume are bystanders wondering why the rude hero who trended number one on Twitter this morning (#FrightingaleBreakdown) is wandering around.

“Are you taking me to a strip club?” you ask suddenly. “I really don’t wanna go to a strip club right now.”

“No, but that’s a good idea. Tell me that one later. Or, tomorrow, or whatever. Whenever you want.”

Yeah. Okay.

A door closes, and that’s when he finally moves his hand. You’d assumed you would have to shield your eyes from some ceiling light. But instead, you’re met by even more darkness.

Well. Not total darkness.

There’s a hint of white. A sliver of silver. And it’s everywhere.

You honesttoGod gasp, staggering back as you witness the night sky. The stars twinkle like shiny teeth (that sparkle, adding beauty to my faaaace, my shiny teeth that glisten, just like a christmas tree, you know they’d walk a mile, just to see me smile (woo!) my shiny teeth and me). Your hands tremble as they close over your mouth, and you don’t realize that you’re tearing up until Hawks’ fingers are under your eyes again, catching the tears before they can fall.

“I know a planetarium isn’t the same as the actual night.” He glows like this, how does one do that? What’s his skincare routine? “But…it’s better than nothing, and I’ll bring you here whenever you want. You say the word to me and we’re here. Or anywhere else. If you can’t get out of the loop, then you should take advantage of it. Have fun. Do things you’ve never had time to do before. I’ll help you.”

For all this trouble, you should stare up at the faux sky, not at him.

“And um, to speed up the process.” His cheeks dust pink, and he whispers, “Keigo.”

That’s when you find your voice. “What?”

“Keigo. My name. I’ve never told anyone, so, you know. I’ll believe you faster.” His face is red now, all the way up to the tips of his prickly ears. 

“Kei-go.” You test it out on your tongue, eyes on him. “Well, what if I’m just messing with you and I’m not actually reliving today?”

He exhales in a way that tells you the thought didn’t even cross his mind. As if you’re sooo goodhearted you would never do such a thing. But you absolutely would.

“It’d be worth it.” Hawks—Keigo—shrugs. “To hear you say my name.”

Oh.

You step forward, you think, to kiss him, but before you get the chance the ground shakes, and then crumbles directly under your feet. You don’t even hear his cry of surprise. Is this an earthquake? No, quicksand? But that makes no sense—except the curse doesn’t make any sense at all, so yeah. Sure. You’ll go out like that.

You wake up with the taste of sand and good sense never to try and kiss your partner again. 

—————————————————

“You’re early!” Hawks greets you at patrol.

“Yeah, well.” You sigh, blowing into the cup of hot tea in your hand. “We don’t all take our time like you, Keigo.”

[greenhikingboots]

Chispas's Prompt! Obviously! 😁

Haha. Obviously! About this post. I'm going to keep the original ficlet prompt in my inbox so I can eventually reply to it. So that others can start to envision where this is heading, I'm also going to copy/paste it here. And then the first section of what I've written so far will be below the cut. Prompt: Two popular fan-fic writers for the same fandom. Sansa writes sweet modern aus with a fair amount of smut, while Jon is a canon stickler who never has any romance. While on Sansa's laptop one day, one of her friends (I don't care who) leaves a comment on one of Jon's fics asking when x & y are going to kiss already, or something like that. You know...hi-jinks ensue.

Sansa Stark sits cross-legged in the living room she shares with her sister, peering at her reflection in an antique, floor full-length mirror she bought a few months earlier. It dominates the corner where she most likes to get ready — creates the perfect spot for her ritualistic preening and primping ahead of a fun night out. Tonight, for instance, Sansa’s celebrating her birthday with the rest of her family. They’ll soon be dining at one of Winterfell’s highest rated restaurants, The Glass Garden. “This place looks pretentious,” Arya says. She’s sprawled across the couch behind Sansa, most of her body visible in the mirror so long as Sansa tilts her head to the right. When she does, she sees Arya scrolling on her phone, presumably looking at the restaurant's menu. Instead of replying, Sansa shakes her head and continues curling her hair. It’s true she picked somewhere fancy for her twenty-fifth birthday, but, hey, a quarter of a century is a big damn deal, isn't it? She refuses to let Arya make her feel guilty about that. “This salmon dish sounds good, though,” Arya mutters after a moment. And then, without warning, she lets her phone drop to her stomach and says, “Hey, Robb invited Jon. Did he tell you?” Sansa’s heart nearly leaps out of her chest. She’s known Jon Snow, her brother’s best friend, for as long as she can remember. But it has only been since moving back to Winterfell after graduate school that she’s really started to notice him. At first, it was Jon’s improved looks and increased confidence that caught Sansa’s attention. Shallow stuff she told herself she’d be able to dismiss after a week or two of practicing. But then, during the practicing, more and more of Jon’s positive traits stood out. There’s a long list of them. He’s a good listener, a hard worker, and a generous tipper. He loves animals and his mother too. He asks clever questions and makes clever observations. He sticks up for outcasts and underdogs. And his smile — It’s cliche to say that when Jon smiles, he lights up the room. But because his smiles are so hard-won, Sansa’s starting to believe some cliches are true. And Seven save her when she's actually the one to cause Jon’s smile. Sansa pictures it now, without really meaning to, then tries not to smile at her own reflection in the mirror. Arya doesn’t know about her crush on Jon, and that’s how she’d like to keep it. “No, Robb didn’t tell me,” she replies. “But that’s fine. Jon’s practically family too.” Arya nods sagely, like maybe she’s crediting herself for setting a good example — she accepted Jon as family long before Sansa ever did — then begins scrolling on her phone once more. It’s five minutes later, when Sansa’s finished her hair and moved onto her makeup, that Arya breaks their silence, this time saying something totally mundane. “So, uh, I just got an email I need to reply to. It’s too much to type on my phone, so can I use your laptop instead?” Arya’s own laptop is in her bedroom, not far away, but since Sansa can see hers tucked in the corner of their couch, next to Arya’s feet, she grants the favor. “Yeah, sure. Go for it,” she says. Sansa doesn’t think any more about it until a certain sequence of noises piques her interest. After the clattering of Arya’s fingertips slows down, the clicking of the touchpad speeds up. There are so many clicks, in fact, that it seems like Arya’s comparing items on different tabs or following links in search of some hidden answer. After a glance in the mirror at her little sister, it’s more than Sansa's interest that is piqued. It's her nervousness. “Why are you grinning?” she asks. “No reason,” Arya chirps. But she’s fighting back a laugh and smashing the laptop closed as fast as she can. Lying, obviously.

[errorwarblesrr]

I'm terrible with coming up with conversation topics, especially on the fly, but uhh uhh uhh who is your favourite link and why are you correct for it being wind waker <3 (wjajdhsk no it is an actual question. I feel like a more interesting question would be who's your favourite Zelda and why, so maybe answer that instead? Idk I just hope college is kinder to you soon u_u <3)

Thank you for the ask and the last message. I really appreciate it 💕💕💕 (I hope so too lol)

I can answer both questions >:]

Well, you already know my favorite Link, it's Wind Waker lol. I don't think I have gotten into why he is my favorite, though. I've always been drawn to silly characters so he kinda just perfectly fits that criteria. I was just naturally drawn to him at this silly little guy who is constantly expressing himself. I found though that the more I thought back on Wind Waker the more reasons I find to like the little guy. I enjoy how impulsive he is, especially when it comes to saving the ones he cares about. On that note how he genuinely just wants to help people, I know the "haha he's a pirate now so he's gonna do pirate things" is fun, but he is genuinely a good kid. There's a sidequest where he stops a thievery and the ONLY correct dialogue options have him be kind and compassionate, but he admits that he is honest and calls himself "an ally of justice!". To my knowledge it's one of the few times there is correct dialogue so I'm choosing to believe that's canon compared to something like Skyward Sword where you can get the same results from different paths of dialogues and options if that makes sense. I think it's cute how he and Aryll have matching bracelets in their outset clothes (no one else has these on outset) he's apparently a fasionista too so I'd like to imagine he made those for her or they did it together. Uhhh okay this is getting too long and I'm just rambling so tldr

This is very rambly I'm sorry. Maybe one day I'll do an actual more thought out post lol.

For my favorite Zelda, it's definitely Spirit Tracks. A Zelda who is actually with us the whole time and plays an active role in the story while growing as a character and has a charming personality? Yes please! I genuinely she is the best Zelda no contest. We first hand get to see her grow from someone who wanted nothing to do with the adventure to playing an active role and even seems excited to take the step in the adventure. It's hard to talk about Spirit Tracks without bringing up the Link and Zelda dynamic but they are really the best duo out of all of them imo. It's def not as noticeable or big as Zelda's arc but Link does have an arc of his own and it's definitely in part because of Zelda. They both help each other grow. Enough of that though since this is supposed to be about Zelda. I think it's great how even though she is a lot more feminine than Tetra she still has that sass showing their connection. On that note her femininity isn't a weakness and rather they play it up for comedy but not in a way they are making fun of her for it if that makes sense. Idk tldr

[loneamaryllis]

for WIP game!

Lucius/Harrie

auction war for Reader

The many deaths of Severus Snape (is this perhaps a multiverse!au?👀)

The Muggle variable

Rose and the Alchemist

Harrie going dark, Snape following

God help me, i’m this close🤏 asking for all titles😔 all of em sounds amazing aaah

Hehe I can talk about all of them!

The Lucius/Harrie fic is a oneshot taking place after the war. Harrie comes to Malfoy Manor to check on behalf of the Ministry that Lucius is complying with the terms of his release. They have tea, and he flirts with her, while he's under Veritaserum influence because that's part of the agreement. To the standard question of "Have you had any thoughts that would cause you to break the law?", he talks about dreams he keeps having, spicy ones, featuring a dark-haired woman.

She leaves, flustered, trying not to think about it. She comes back the next day, and she's like "I don't know why I'm here." Lucius replies that yes, she does. Harrie asks him what happens in his dreams. And Lucius goes "Would you like me to tell you, or would you prefer a practical demonstration?"

Then they bang of course.

(Snape is off on a vacation or something, not dead, but not interested in Harrie either. Maybe he's with Narcissa, who is in a open marriage with Lucius.)

The Auction war for Reader is a Snape/Reader oneshot where a Muggle-born reader who fought in the Battle of Hogwarts is being auctioned off to a panel of Death Eaters after Voldemort won. Snape buys her, and then there's smut. It's a dark Snape fic...

The many deaths of Severus Snape is a complete crack fic.

Harrie keeps looping back in time, from the day she received her first Hogwarts letter to the final battle. She wants to save everyone. The problem is that Snape keeps dying. Whatever she does, and she tried a lot of things, he always dies.

The fic starts somewhere around her 100th loop or something, and its goes back and forth between her current loop and previous failed attempts, including one where she showed up on Snape's doorstep at 11, one where she kidnapped him, one where she pretended she was Voldemort reborn in her body, etc. Many fun scenarios!

The Muggle variable is a fic where Harrie never got her Hogwarts letter. She was hidden under a Fidelius set by Dumbledore, and she grew up in the Muggle world, never knowing she was a witch.

Then one day the Fidelius expires and both sides are suddenly aware Harrie Potter is alive. Snape finds her in a coffee shop, where she works. That first meeting doesn't go very well (she flees from him because he's Snape and did the "you're a witch, come with me if you want to live" with zero tact).

Eventually the Order convinces her to come with them, and then they have to figure out how to beat Voldemort.

Rose and the Alchemist is a Medieval AU where Rose Potter is the princess of a kingdom, and Snape is the royal alchemist.

She likes spending time with him in his weird laboratory up in his tower, and he keeps telling her it's not proper for her to be alone with him, but she doesn't stop. He teaches her things, too, things a princess shouldn't know, like which plant are deadly and how to make poison.

Then one day Prince Riddle comes to court, and asks for Rose's hand in marriage...

The Harrie going dark, Snape following fic is little more than mere vibes at his point, haha.

I imagine it happens after the fight at the Ministry in fifth year. Harrie loses Sirius and suddenly she decides she'll fight fire with fire. She starts looking for dark books in which she'd find dark spells, blood magic, things like that.

Snape notices, and Harrie is afraid he'll scold her and rat her out to Dumbledore. Instead, he helps. (And he gets turned on by Harrie getting darker and darker, and more powerful, though he keeps his hands off her probably until after she kills Voldemort, at which point they fuck next to his corpse while they're both covered in blood.)

Thanks for asking <3

[good-morning-czernobog]

Necrozma, Light, and Divinity: A Very Weird Sun and Moon Theory.

I don't think the alchemical connections in Sun and Moon were ever really discussed in-depth enough for my satisfaction. There's no god damn way they'd just base the starter's first forms off the 3 primes and name one of the factions the Aether Foundation just not go anywhere else with that. Sun and Moon were pretty wild games, and I think maybe we got distracted with all the other bells and whistles, like Lusamine's bullshit, the UBs, and ya boy Guzma. Buckle up.

Before we get onto the main bit, I wanna talk a little about Mesopotamian deities. Observe this boundary stone from 12th century BC.

It's Wikimedia Commons details are as follows: Kudurru (stele) of King Melishipak I (1186–1172 BC): the king presents his daughter to the goddess Nannaya. The crescent moon represents the god Sin, the sun the Shamash and the star the goddess Ishtar. Kassite period, taken to Susa in the 12th century BC as war booty.

We've seen this 8-pointed star before, right on Necrozma's back

The star, as the description says, represents Inanna (called that by the Sumerians, and Ishtar by the Babylonians). She is a deity of love, war, fertility, and divine justice. She is associated with the planet Venus (we'll talk about Venus more in a bit). Inanna is referred to as the "Queen of Heaven", described as powerful but capricious.

She is also described as having some ambiguity to her gender, even having the power to alter people's gender, especially in relation to her cult. This ties into another figure Necrozma may be based on, as well as it's alchemical ties. But before I talk about that I wanna walk about the time Inanna died.

Gods die all the time in mythology. Inanna is one of the few who came back. For a time, she was trapped in the underworld by her sister Ereshkigal. Similarly, it's Sun dex entry reads "Reminiscent of the Ultra Beasts, this life-form, apparently asleep underground, is thought to have come from another world in ancient times." Whole it's entry in Sword for gen 8 is "It survives by absorbing light. After a long time spent slumbering underground, impurities accumulated within it, causing its body to darken.". Inanna is eventually saved when "sexless" or androgynous beings are sent to rescue her.

Bulbapedia's trivia section for Necrozma offers a different idea: Lucifer.

Ultra Necrozma, a being of light, four wings, draconic yet angelic, who's battle music begins with a fucking organ absolutely invokes imagery of Lucifer.

In this form, its head becomes the 8-pointed star.

Lucifer, who's name means "light bringer". Lucifer the morning star, associated with Venus. This figure is eventually absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil, a being who himself was once an angel. It's not uncommon for media to depict him with a mixture of secondary sexual characteristics, though most are male. It's entirely possible this is because of confusion between Satan and the figure Baphomet, though I had a harder time finding info on this one. If that were the case I wouldn't entirely fault Gamefreak for it. Even I have a hard time separating the two. Also probably worth noticing that dragons come up several times in the Bible, usually in relation to Satan. Ultra Necrozma does gain the dragon type after all.

Two figures, sometimes of ambiguous gender, both associated with the 3rd brightest object in the sky? Interesting. Very interesting.

If you're still reading, congrats, we're talking about alchemy now.

It was pretty hard to understand where they were going with this until we got USUM. USUM introduced Team Rainbow Rocket, Giovanni's attempt to gather past evil the leaders into a league of supervillains (who you demolish). Seemed simple enough. Haha, Necrozma is a light god. Z-Crystals are shards of its light because it's a prism. Cool.

But maybe not the whole story. I introduce to you: The Prima Materia.

In alchemy, Prima Materia is a substance that acts as the base form of all matter. It is similar to aether. a book called the Theatrum Chemicum contains the following passage about it.

"They have compared the "prima materia" to everything, to male and female, to the [redacted]*, to heaven and earth, to body and spirit, chaos, microcosm, and the confused mass; it contains in itself all colors and potentially all metals; there is nothing more wonderful in the world, for it begets itself, conceives itself, and gives birth to itself.

*the word used here is considered a slur against intersex people, so I excluded it

Furthermore, the Lexicon Alchemaie (which i would have checked more in depth but I don't speak Latin), lists names alchemists have used for the Prima Materia. Ones that stand out to me are: heaven, the dragon, heart of the sun, spittle of the moon, Venus, the rainbow. The Prima Materia is required in the creation of the Philosopher's Stone.

In USUM, instead of Nihilego, Lusamine beings forth Necrozma. The Aether Foundation's name comes full circle here. Aether as an alchemical element is frequently associated with light and gravity.

What I'm saying is, Necrozma isn't just light. it's alchemical light. it is the Prima Materia. The energy it emits becomes other things (in this case, the Pokemon types).

Now let's take this a step further, with Type: Null and Silvally. They don't directly relate to Necrozma, but I do believe they have an alchemical inspiration that ties them to Necrozma's mythological position in comparison to Arceus.

According to Bulbapedia, Type: Null was created using cells from all known pokemon types. It was supposed to be able to change types with RKS system, inspired by tales of Arceus. There were complications with them going berserk and the project was deemed a failure.

Type: Null is a failed Philosopher's Stone, until the power of love completed it.

With high friendship, Type: Null evolves into Silvally. It breaks free of the limiter attached to its head and regains use of the RKS system, this time without going berserk. Gladion, a kid, achieves what a bunch of detached adult scientists could not.

It seems love and light are very similar concepts, at least in the Pokemon world. The fairy types are heavily associated with light, super effective against dark types, and a certain pokemon repping them when they first got revealed evolves when it loves you (and has a fairy type move).

Now, it's still difficult to say where Necrozma stands in Pokemon's mythology. It's from another world entirely. The question is whether or not Arceus has influence in those worlds. It's God. It should, right? I think there's a few possibilities, but I don't have enough information to decide for sure

-Necrozma is equivalent to Arceus in its own world. Ultra Beasts may not be described as pokemon, but they have types and use moves like them, so they must be something similar but adapted to a different environment. This one's a bit of a stretch.

-Necrozma is a creation of Arceus like everything else and plays an important function, it just made a home in a different area of time and space, or much like Giratina (another Satan inspired pokemon who is dragon type) it was sent there for some reason.

-Less likely, Necrozma is above Arceus, not as a god but a primal energy gained beast-like sentience, the divine Chaos from which Arceus came

One potential hint at this relation may lie in Arceus' name. It's likely this is a coincidence, and they didn't intend this from the get-go, but it did just happen to fit the alchemy theme. There is another concept: Archeus. Archeus is, according to Wiktionary: "The vital principle or force believed by the Paracelsians to be responsible for alchemical reactions within living bodies, and hence for the growth and continuation of life." It is another name for Anima Mundi, the soul of the world. The divine spark. Archeus has four aspects: Life, Light, Chemical, and Reflective.

I haven't worked out yet what this means, unfortunately. I could be connecting a bunch of weird mythological coincidences. But it was very fun. I would like to discuss some less grand alchemical connections in Alola sometime. Those would require a bit more research and milling over however. I genuinely wish I could give you a more satisfying conclusion here.

Altogether, I hope this gives you food for thought.

UPDATE: more thoughts

there's something I wanted to talk about that I forgot when previously writing this, and I've had more time to mull over previous thoughts.

This next section will start with the elements of gender ambiguity with Inanna and Lucifer, and how that connects to alchemy. Rebis.

An end product of the Magnum Opus (creation of the Philosopher's Stone), the Rebis is a fusion of spirit and matter, imbued with male and female qualities. (Lot of the use of that word I omitted earlier here so be advised if you look into it more). While lacking in the two heads, that certainly lines up with the element of gender ambiguity. Ultra Necrozma is the being at its strongest, when it is full of the much needed light its body had been starving for.

Another interesting bit regarding the Rebis is it is considered the result of "reconciliation of opposites", and imagery around it is called a chemical wedding. This is symbolized by the coming together of a king and queen, the king in red and the queen in white, each symbolizing the sun and moon respectively.

While Solgaleo and Lunala do not fit so neatly into the references to mesopotamian myth (Shamash and Sin are both male, Shamash is Ishtar's brother and Sin their father), this might add some ideas for how Solgaleo and Lunala connect to Necrozma. They are all beings of light after all, and Necrozma is able to siphon it from them when fusing with them in USUM.

I believe Necrozma may be a possible evolution of Cosmog. Bear with me, please.

Obviously, this isn't reflected in gameplay. What Cosmog evolves into depends on your version of the game. But Solgaleo and Lunala are framed as mates. You can get a second Cosmog in both games, and when you do, the other game's legendary appears. They are also referred as appearing to be male and female respectively in their Pokedex entries despite having no gender in the actual game data.

But what is Cosmog and Cosmoem in this case then? Well besides being based on nebulas, I think it may be another concept called filius philosophorum, "Philosopher's Child". One of the Filius' ways of being represented is by the Rebis, as well as a direct child of the red king and white queen. Many sites mention an egg as a symbol but don't elaborate further (like baby name websites they often feed off each other indefinitely).

Now Cosmog's name is the same in all languages, but Cosmoem's is not. It's Japanese name is Cosmovum. Cosmos and ovum. Ovum as in egg. The -em in Cosmoem's name may also be for embryo. whoever wrote the trivia section for it's Bulbapedia stage thinks it has elements of both the sun and moon in its design, and I'm inclined to agree. It also mentions something called the world egg.

The world egg is a mythological concept that spans across multiple cosmologies, but because alchemy often takes from the Greek cosmology I'll stick to that. Within Greek myth we are given the Orphic Egg, from which the primordial deity Phanes is born. Phanes' name meaning "to light, or to shine". He is described bearing a helmet and golden wings, largely referred to as male but sometimes as androgynous. His parentage varies, with having no parents at all, to Chronos (time), to Chaos, to Nyx (night). He is described as creating all other gods, or creating the day depending on the telling.

Necrozma is also Phanes, a being of light, born from a divine egg. Necrozma is a more perfect path of evolution than it's parents, but this is likely triggered by something far beyond the control of the player.

(Addendum: If you think this also sounds similar to books about Arceus in the Canalave library, you'd be right. That myth was applied to Arceus first, which makes some interesting implications.)

Now you may be thinking "wow a lot of these concepts sound like ways to talk about the Philosopher's Stone", and you'd probably be right. The Magnum Opus had many names and many ways of representing it visually, mostly alchemists wanted to keep their trade secrets. But there is an interesting one.

The ouroboros. A symbol of unity, eternity, and endless cycles. The beginning and the end are intrinsically connected.

What is Necrozma doing when you meet it in USUM? it's desperately looking for light. It can't make it on its own anymore. It's base form dex entries describe it as craving light, going dormant when it can't find it.

Ultra Sun: It looks somehow pained as it rages around in search of light, which serves as its energy. It's apparently from another world.

Ultra Moon: Light is the source of its energy. If it isn't devouring light, impurities build up in it and on it, and Necrozma darkens and stops moving.

Necrozma is burning out like an old star. Necros, death.

The Philosopher's Stone is often visualized in modern media as a gem, much like it's body in this form. When the power is expended, Necrozma will be just another rock. It is a transient being. Much like the Great Work, perfection is not sustainable in practice.

But it's not all bad. Phanes, again, is also described as creating other gods. In time, it's body will break down and may become a new Cosmog. The end begets the beginning. The Prima Materia is after all, important in the Great Work's culmination.

There is another being described as creating all else though, in Pokemon. Once again it rolls back around to Arceus.

In Platinum and HGSS Pokedex entries, Arceus' goes as follows: It is said to have emerged from an egg in a place where there was nothing, then shaped the world.

These beings are connected somehow, but after more research from my first version of this I've come to the conclusion that while Necrozma and Arceus are similar (remember, Arceus can be any type, Necrozma's light becomes the differently typed Z-Crystals), Necrozma is inherently more flawed and impermanent.

It's important also to remember that the Philosopher's Stone is the work of humans. It's not divine but comes from a desire to come close to it. I can't say the same about Solgaleo and Lunala, but it's possible that Necrozma isn't natural. Necrozma was made. By whom? Who knows, but probably someone from the Ultra Recon Squad's dimension. This is merely a guess. It could just be a natural but rare occurrence. From what we've been given, this anyone's guess. Maybe were not even meant to know. Whatever the case, Necrozma is a transient being, Arceus-like but ultimately imperfect. The cycle continues eternally.

BONUS ROUND: tria prima

In the very introduction of this post I mentioned the 3 primes, and the starters's first forms having similarities to their symbols. I'm aware there are likely many alchemical connections in the story that I haven't noticed yet but I wanted to discuss something more with that.

Paracelsus described the primes (sulphur, mercury, and salt) as materials from which all things are made. This is not entirely literal. Alchemy wasn't just chemistry, it was spiritual. Each prime has a different quality.

Sulphur is combustibility, soul, the divine spark

Mercury is volatility, spirit (mind), consciousness

Salt is neither, it is the body that holds them

One of the biggest examples for this is that in say, burning a piece of wood. The fire was sulphur, the smoke was mercury, and the ash was salt.

The tria prima sound a lot like prima materia don't they? It's kind of poetic the way this is implemented in USUM. You begin your journey with a prime material and it's biggest climax is with another prime material. Just as the end begets the beginning, the beginning begets the end.

~

Note for potential future update: Two substances were added to this later on: phlegm and caput mortuum (Latin for "dead head"). Caput Mortuum was waste product in a reaction. Phlegm, in the alchemical sense is "A watery distillation, especially one obtained from plant matter; an aqueous solution.", to quote Wiktionary. Phlegm was also considered a waste product. CM was produced by sublimation, and Phlegm by distillation. Phlegm doesn't appear to have a symbol but CM does: a skull.

[morrisseyhaterr]

7, 8, 11, 18 pls!!

okay, definitely putting a readmore lol

7: Favourite live performance of a song

Okay, I'm definitely biased on this one, because I LOVE LOVE LOVE the demo version of wonderful woman and I don't even want to know how often I've watched this video, but it's this 1983 performance of "What do You See in Her":

https://youtu.be/W9ktxjzC_4A !

The way Morrissey sings is SO incredibly emotional, and you notice how personal those lyrics are to him - this is what people mean when they say "he poured his heart and soul into it". Wonderful Woman is among the most underrated Smiths songs for me, but honestly, I'm still sad about the lyric change.

I also have to dedicate a honourable mention to this 1986 performance to The Queen is Dead: https://youtu.be/-o76TepMrJI. Though i was first completely put off by Morrissey's random gurgling and gagging, and disliked this performance when I first saw this video, it has now definitely grown on me. Though I wouldn't listen to this version when I just want to hear the song, it definitely fits the vibe of the song: it's not only meant to be an easy listen, but also convey a message, while ALSO being witty and ironic. Also, LOOK AT JOHNNY PLAYING THE GUITAR WITH A DRUMSTICK??? i LOVE this man so much.

8: Best cover of a Smiths song

I don't know if this is a basic answer, but I really like the Deftones cover of "Please, Please, Please, Let me Get What I Want". The band brings a completely different sound to the song and changes your eperience listening to both the original and the cover, and I think this is what a great cover is supposed to do. Also love the recordings with Sandie Shaw, but I'm not sure if they count as covers haha

11: Theory I'd like to share

This one is a bit far-fetched, but here goes:

So, I know that "This Night Has Opened my Eyes" is at least partially based on "A Taste of Honey", but I do think that it is also based on another play called "Faust" by german author Goethe. Actually, the only thing keeping me from 100% believing that theory to be true is that Morrissey has never admitted to being inspired by Goethe, like he has with other great authors. I'll summarise the play here, but fyi, in it, themes of pedophilia/grooming and a dead baby are discussed, so if you don't want to read about this, please skip this one! :)

To sum up the play "Faust" as short as possible, there's this guy ( around 50) who is really booksmart, but doesn't know anything about real life, so he basically makes a bet with the devil, who makes him younger (about half his age) and helps him get with a 14-year old girl called Gretchen, which is obviously very creepy, but at the time people thought it was normal. She comes from a poor household, her mother is sick, she basically had to raise her own sister when she was still a child, and her father isn't around - and now there's this older guy, who also seems to have some money, taking an interest in her. She falls for him, thinks he loves her too - which he doesn't, it's implied that he just wants her for her body (also she's 14 and he's 25! let's not forget this fact). He gets her pregnant and leaves her, and now she's on her own, with no way to support the child, and being outcast by the people in her village, so she sadly drowns the baby. She then goes to jail and dies there, but her soul is saved by god and she goes to heaven. Pretty crazy stuff, honestly.

You can probably already see where this is going: The first verse of the song discusses drowning a baby in a river, which is exactly what Gretchen did. The line that goes "a grown man of 25, he said he'd cure your ills, but he didn't and he never will" also makes a lot of sense through this lens, and by singing "save your life, cause you've only got one" Morrissey could be referencing her soul being saved.

18: How did you first get into the Smiths?

Honestly, completely coincidentally. Last winter, I was just opening up YouTube and looking through my recommended videos when I saw a video titled "There is a light that never goes out". I had heard the name of the band this song was by once or twice, but never really checked them out, but for some reason, I just clicked on the video, and that was it: I was completely enchanted. Naturally, I checked out some other songs and was even more impressed with this band. They became the first band whose full discography I had listened to in the correct order. I just got the urge to find out more and more about them, and they became more and more important to me over time- and now I'm here, with basically almost my whole tumblr account dedicated to this band!

[perfectlovevn]

Perfect Love VN Devlog #1

I will probably try doing these at the end of the week so I can detail what's happening.

This week I focused mostly on sprite editing. As of current, I have pretty much all of the sprites done, but they require a few adjustments. I have about four different sprites for each version of Milo, but the headsizes and eye positions were inconsistent so I had to change them in Photoshop again. I also added the sprite edits for the last choice where his eyes sort of change color. I was dumb about it and didn't use my tablet but rather my mouse. I have to edit the last of the Violence Milo sprites this week, which shouldn't be too difficult.

I drew some of the mini cgs that pop up during certain events, but I'm missing some for the second choice. Because they're all in black and white it's a lot easier so I can afford to put in a lot of them. I also worked on the Main Menu which is whatever you're seeing above. I haven't quite coded in the Load, Extras, Preferences and Exit yet. The idea is that the eye changes depending on the form that Milo is in. Above it's defaulted at Eris's eyes, and I wanted to check how Glass Minds did their eye shifting in their game. Turns out it's a video, so I'll have to pop open After Effects again possibly or try to remember how to do animation in Photoshop again. The idea is that the eyes will look around as the player selects things. I thought about it looking directly at the player when something is chosen, but I have no idea how to code that in plus it's not super important.

I did do some coding for the sprites as it leads up to the ending. Layered Images are honestly so much fun- they remind me of the type of game modding I like to do, so expect there be a lot of facial expression changes. I added some new layers for the Bully, since he's not as expressive as Milo is. That was drawn with my mouse too so hopefully nobody notices haha.

I haven't touched sfx or bg music yet but I did save a bunch of the free ones on Renpy. I know a couple of other places to get sounds for free, but I'll have to check later on. I'm hoping for a slightly eerie one for the Main Menu screen, but we'll have to check later. I'm planning on doing that last though.

Finally I have to resdesign the UI. The game is set in a weird aspect ratio, which is what I wanted, but it also forces the save screen to be kind of messed up. I was going to redo the UI anyways because I personally like remaking it so it looks...less like a renpy game, no offense to renpy. Plus it will probably look more unique and I think it's fun to make the UI look different, haha. Harks me back to the game modding I did as well where I redid the entire UI for it like 4 times.

I think that's the majority of it. If you have any questions on renpy or anything that I've done, I can try to answer it if you're interested. That being said, like a lot of yandere vn creators, this is my first game, so I probably don't know anything too detailed.