#one sky one destiny(Main Verse)

[oathofpromises]

𝕬𝖖𝖚𝖆 𝖍𝖆𝖉 𝖆 𝖋𝖊𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝕿𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖗𝖙 𝖜𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉 𝖗𝖊𝖕𝖑𝖞 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖜𝖆𝖞, 𝖎𝖙 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖜𝖆𝖞 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖗𝖞𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖔 𝖕𝖚𝖘𝖍 𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖞𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖆𝖜𝖆𝖞. Then again, the man had always been very cold..calculating. It was hard to tell exactly what he was thinking sometimes. Surrounded in so much mystery and yet Aqua couldn’t help but try and see the good, even in a man like him. It was always the same though, any hint of what he considered weakness wasn’t allowed, at least the ones that could bring Terra back.  Slowly, the woman placed the charm back into her pocket. Cerulean hues focused on his movements, with her Rainfall by her side. Every fiber in her body was screaming at her. If the key blade master could descend into darkness for Terra, she wasn't afraid to do so again if necessary.

 “I made a promise to bring Terra home. I fell to the deepest darkness.. For years, I was isolated from everyone I cared about. If I need to suffer through that again..so be it. I am going to bring Terra back, even if I need to knock sense into that thick skull of his.”

Anger had indeed been coursing through the blue haired woman's veins for years, but she always had control over it. Cracks slowly were forming, as that pain and rage radiated throughout her entire body. Could it be her time in the dark realm had gotten to her more than she had let anyone else know. What felt like years for Aqua was only a short amount of time for everyone else. 

Truthfully, she had felt abandoned at one point, figuring that as long as everyone else was safe in the realm of light that things would be fine. However, over time that slowly started to eat at her. Judgement becoming clouded, and heart slowly becoming pure ice. Most people probably figured the key blade master had always been distant, and for a time she had been. Slowly, time seemed to stall as she charged forward. Water droplets surrounding them, as key blades clashed against one another. 

“I will cast you out for good...” There was a slight edge to her voice, eyes piercing. Aqua knew how strong Terranrot was, he was one of the thirteen chosen. It was hard knowing she would have to fight Terra yet again, but she convinced herself this wasn’t the man she had trained with or cared about. It was someone else using his body. Not only that, but it made it a tad easier to handle facing off against the other. There was no hesitation now, she was ready to continue the fight that should’ve been ended years ago. 

There it was again, that ache inside her chest. This all could’ve been prevented if only she had been stronger. There were so many mistakes made during that time, and all she did was fuel the darkness inside Terra’s heart. He felt lost...angry, perhaps even a bit of hurt that she was chosen to be master. It was like she had once said, one key blade was enough to ruin any friendship. All Aqua wanted was to be the light that Terra and Ventus needed. To be their way finder in the darkness, but fate seemed to always tear them apart. 

“You have no right to talk about Ven.” The woman’s tone sounded agitated, as she pushed away from Terranort. Fighting the other head on was risky, which meant she might need to tap into the side of her. The darker part she was holding back since returning from the realm of darkness. Reaching up, Aqua’s hand rested against her chest. 

Breathe. 

The woman jumped up and swung her key blade at Terranort, casting a series of spells. They landed around him, almost like a warning shot, which was dangerous because she knew what the man was capable of. Piercing yellow eyes returned her stare. Terra was still in there. The other would eventually overcome Xehanort's control over his body if she kept lighting his way home. 

"I am fully aware of the type of man that you are, but I also know that Terra isn't going to give up either. You can try and say that darkness has consumed all of his heart, but as long as those who care for him keep lighting his way home. You will never know peace.” 

Aqua had already acknowledged that this battle would not be simple, but Terra was worth it. Even if she had to use her darker side, it would be fine. She kept telling herself that, but there was a tiny part of her that feared even using that kind of power once more might cause the light inside of her to dim. 

She sends a hail of blizzard in the other's direction by twisting her keyblade. Furthermore, she carried the burden of Terra's destiny on her shoulders. It was one of the many things that had been weighing on her heart for years. Jumping up, she charged at the other yet again, sparks flying around their key blades. Despite how adamant she sounded in her words, there was a hint of hesitation in the woman's eyes. 

“I will be his wayfinder in the darkness!!” shouted Aqua, as she cast thunder down around them. It missed, but her resolve was set, this would end one way or another. 

Terra, give me strength.

Reply continued from here

[justanotherblogger]

Small Tang Ramble

Right now, I have started rewatching the entire Lego Monkie Kid series from the start while I wait to see the recent season 5 episodes (that I was suckerpunched with when scrolling through Tumblr and having some stuff spoiled whene I didnt even think a new season would come for at least a few more months).

Then, when I finally got to season 4, I noticed something interesting with how they handle Tang's powers.

At the start of the season, it's revealed that Tang's cheat sheet, given to him by Azure Lion, was something that supposedly should've been helpful to someone "mysticly powerful, comparable to the Great Monk, Tang Sanzang", then the sheet should be a piece of cake so to speak.

Then we see how Tang struggles and has a hard time finding where his friends are located, but then a Golden Cicada helps him to find Pigsy, which was the same one that flew around the Samadhi Fire ritual site when Mei had it reunited within her.

That's not my topic right now, though, so I'll just skip the "random destiny bugs" (name given to me by a friend), and keep going towards my main point.

Anyways, skipping a few episode to when the meet the Great Master (I forgot the guys name), we see how Tang got berated for his lack of courage and work ethic. Then Tang and the rest of the gang are put to train, and I'm not exactly sure on how long they were in training for, but I'm going to assume a few hours at the sky visibly got darker near the end of the montage.

(I'm pretty sure that something akin to a stop in time for them to train would have been stated in the show itself if that was an explanation for how long they have been training for, so I'm gonna rule out any sort of "checkpoint" or "rest stop" rules here, like when you can stay in a safe space for whatever amount of time and come out with little time passed afterwards.)

The reason why I'm talking about how long they've trained for, is because after (what I assume) is a few hours, Tang is able to teleport a WHOLE AIR BALLOON, RIGHT ON TOP OF WHERE THEY NEEDED TO BE, WITHOUT HIS STAFF NO LESS.

*ahem* We know Tang had struggled with the teleportation magic from the beginning, even with his staff along with only transporting 3 people, and the magic level required to do so is comparable to the Monk, who is very powerful considering what we've seen in how his training was revered by the great master for being extensive plus how the Monk focussed only on his studies, and in-show examples. (Ex. Releasing the heavenly seal put on monkey king singehandedly, sealing the Samadhi Fire along with three others, then also Sealing the Lady Bone Demon to where she can only escape through her self reflecting or a rare, mystical key, etc)

I'm just saying how it's very impressive how Tang could go from barely being able to teleport accurately with 3 people, the staff in hand, to figuring out how to teleport accurately, how to teleport something as big as an airship, and then gaining enough focus/mystic power to do the teleport without his staff for this first time shown in the show. And remember this: all of this growth was in, at most, half a day.

And we know how long the Great Monk had to study to get to where he was, "learning everything there was to learn" with him blocking out anything else to focus purely on his studies to get where he was, and yes, he probably studied more than just the teleportation magic in his time, but Azure said it himself, that someone "mysticly powerful, comparable to the Great Monk, Tang Sanzang" should be able to figure out the cheet sheet, or at least versed in the mystical topic.

I already showcased how much work is really needed through that comment, but then Azure showed it again in his comment of "if hes learned it in the mystical arts.." describing how this would have needed to be taught like how they gang were forced to with the Great Master. We already know how hard the training from the Great Master was to get even a fraction of Mk's power, and considering how heavily it's put on how the Monk only studied and studied when it was talked about, with the students in the flashback looking like the ones under the Great Master, I would assume learning the mystic arts takes a similar amount of time and effort.

And now that my points have been laid out, you guys get it when I was gobsmacked at how quickly Tang grew in the time with the Great Master, reiterating my point of how Tang was able to figure out HOW TO DO TELEPORT AND AIRSHIP WITHOUT THE CHEAT SHEET, WITH HIS BARE HANDS, IN A MATTER OF HOURS when it was heavily implied (from what interpreted) that doing something like this would take a considerable amount of time and training, even for the Monk as he was said to only focus on his studies to optimize his mystic abilities and to block any distractions.

And then to add to this, it was only ever shown in the show that Tang only read throughout the entire training session. Whenever we see him in the montage, it's him reading scrolls no matter what. We never see him practice, or even mimic any of the moves or exercise that I would assume would be on those scrolls for him to learn. Then, the first time he ever put those ideas he read about into practice after using the staff the entire time before and messing it up, he was able to make the transportation of the airship fast, accurate, and without the help of the staff entirely.

TLDR: Tang is either so good at cramming that he was able to shorten a good year of learning into a couple hours, or he's severely gifted in the mystic arts with the right training or examples. Either way, if you gave this man a week in the scroll library with some noodles and motivation from the Great Master, then I would assume he might actually become one of the most powerful characters LMK, given the time to do so. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[fiefgoldenlake]

Recs for Disability Pride month (and some bonus belated recs for Pride!)

All titles link to Storygraph, which can give you a further synopsis, as well as any warnings.

Godkiller (Godkiller #1) by Hannah Kaner

Meet Kissen - the eponymous godkiller. In a world which has forsaken gods, Kissen deals with those who still prey on the public. She finds herself drawn into a quest with a young girl who is bound to a god. Along the way, they start to uncover what truly happened in their country's war against the gods. Bisexual rep, queer-normal world, main character has a prosthesis.

Iron Widow (Iron Widow #1) by Xiran Jay Zhao

Zetian volunteers herself to be a concubine pilot, to avenge the death of her sister. Giant robots, known as Chrysalises, are piloted by men, with the assistance of a female (concubine) pilot. Zetian's actions lead her to be punished by a match-up with Li Shimin, who has killed every concubine pilot who has ever flown with him. But everyone has underestimated Zetian. Poly, bisexual rep, the correct resolution to a love triangle. The main character suffers from chronic pain, mobility issues, and uses a wheelchair on occasion. 

The Final Strife (The Ending Fire Trilogy #1) by Saara El-Arifi

This is a class-driven society, and clear-blooded Hassa belongs to the ghost class, who've had their tongues cut out and hands severed by the ruling Ember class. The book follows Sylah, one of the Stolen Ember children, forged into a weapon and using drugs to cope with her past, and the beautiful and privileged Anoor. In the background, there's Hassa, keeping an eye on everything. The Ghostings communicate through sign language, and although Sylah is as fluent as possible without being a native, she can't speak it - it is a language exclusive to them. Sylah also suffers from drug withdrawal symptoms in the first book. Trans rep, wlw, mutism. 

Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse

Xiala is a disgraced Teek, charged with bringing a 'harmless' passenger to Tova. Serapio has a destiny, one which has caused him to be blinded, and he's determined to fulfill it. Blind main character (but has the capacity to be magically enhanced), queer-normal world. 

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Montague Siblings #1) by Mackenzi Lee (YA)

Monty is already well-versed in vice before embarking on his Grand Tour with his best friend, Percy. It isn't a problem that he has a big crush on Percy - really. But it is Percy's last chance for freedom, since he suffers from epileptic seizures, and his uncle has judged it best that he be put in a sanitorium at the end of the trip. Bisexual rep, mlm, epilepsy, period-typical homophobia, period-typical discrimination. 

Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo

If you haven't already read it and you want to know more about a world like the Court of the Rogue, definitely check this one out! The Crows are a fantastic group, and you can't help rooting for them. Leader Kaz uses a cane and suffers from PTSD - Bardugo says she was looking to create a character who was "disabled and ferocious". Queer found family, mlm amongst the main characters, limp/use of cane, PTSD. 

Bonus Belated Pride Recs The Jasmine Throne (The Burning Kingdoms #1) by Tasha Suri

There's a rot spreading through the nation, which sees dying plants sprout inside people’s bodies, killing them. The Emperor is seeking to crush a rebellion, and will not tolerate any dissent. Priya does what she can to help the poorest citizens, but it's not without a cost, and she needs to keep her head down. Malini, the vengeful princess imprisoned by her own brother, has other ideas, however. Wlw. 

The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos #1) by Samantha Shannon

A quest fantasy with a queendom on one side, where magic is prohibited and the throne of Inys has passed, generation after generation, from mother to identical daughter. On the other side, there be dragons. Assassination attempts, a beautiful wlw romance, another main character who reads as ace, and a gripping plot, this book is worth every one of its (almost) 850 pages. Part of a series but each book stands alone.

Little Thieves (Little Thieves #1) by Margaret Owen (YA)

Vanja is one of my favourite characters that I've encountered in years (and as a bonus, the author is a confirmed TP fan!). This is an irreverent retelling of the Goose Girl from the maid's perspective, and the concept behind the title is, "The little thief steals gold, but the great one steals kingdoms; and only one goes to the gallows." Vanja is a little thief, accustomed to fending for herself, but she comes up against a curse, an impending marriage, and a personified pocket ledger. Demi rep, queer found family. 

Finally, I read Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly, which is a story about two guys who meet hiking the PCT. One of them brought his comfort read - Alanna: the First Adventure

[risalei-nur]

The Words - The Thirty-third  Word - Part 2

Similarly—The highest comparison is (and must be put forth) for God— the Maker of Majesty, the Originator, Who is beyond compare and called by one thousand and one holy Names, such as the All-Wise Ruler and the All-Just Judge, willed to make that palace of the universe, that tree of creation, which is the macrocosm. He laid the palace’s (and tree’s) foundations in six “days” and built the main body with the principles of His Wisdom and rules of His eternal Knowledge. Dividing it into higher and lower levels and branches, He ramified and elaborated it with the principles of His Decree and Destiny. Then He formed and organized creatures in groups, families, and species and ordered the life of each with the principles of His Art and Favoring. After that, He adorned each thing and world in a unique way. For example, He adorned the sky with stars and the earth with flowers. He manifested His Names in those vast arenas where His universal laws and all-inclusive principles are in force and illuminated them. Following that, by manifesting His Names the All-Merciful and the All- Compassionate, He came to the aid of each individual creature, which cried at the pressure of those universal laws. That means that He has, with- in His universal and all-inclusive rules or laws, special favors and help, as well as particular manifestations, that encourage every being to turn to Him at any time and ask Him to meet any of its needs. Also, in order to make His Existence and Unity evident, He opened windows on Himself from all apartments, all levels of creation and worlds, all groups of existence and individuals, and all things. Furthermore, He left a phone in every heart.

Now referring those innumerable windows to the all-comprehensive Divine Knowledge, the discussion of which is beyond our capacity, in a happy correspondence with the thirty repetitions of the phrases of glorifying and praising God, and of affirming His Greatness after each prescribed Prayer, and under the title of The Twenty-third Word, we will be content with a brief allusion to thirty-three of them originating from the Qur’an’s verses.

[talktomeinclexa]

On the Ground All Can Hear You Scream

By: TalktomeinClexa

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Canon Violence, Blood and Injury

Status: WIP

Summary: Novitiate Lexa is captured by reapers and wakes up locked in a cage, not knowing that the blonde who finds her there will change her destiny. Unless this enemy turns out to be who Fate had in store for her?

***

Chapter 10: Life Hangs by a Thread

Reflected by the houses and trees around Doah — Louwoda Kliron’s main village — the sound of drums and flutes rose into the night sky in a joyous crescendo. The female singer began the second verse, soon followed by the musicians and several villagers. Those too shy to sing beat time on the table or with their foot, encouraging the children dancing in the middle.

From her throne, Lexa observed the farandole, the shadow of a smile hanging on her lips. Although the party would last until the early hours of the morning, making it difficult for her troop to get up early and ride all day, she loved to see her people happy.

The ambassadors, the messengers, and her spies often reported how the clans fared well under the relative peace. But there was something about seeing well-fed goufa and their parents relaxed and laughing that warmed her heart. A sense of accomplishment that softened the sacrifices she made. The scars on her body. The seven circles tattooed on her back…

Fynbar, the leader of Louwoda Kliron, tilted a jug above her cup. “Another glass, Heda?”

The mulled wine, rich in spices and flavors, had grown popular among the clans over the previous years. Even before joining the Coalition, Louwoda Kliron traded it with its allies in exchange for the ore they lacked, and they guarded its recipe with their lives. Its fruity, light taste perfectly matched the celebrations and helped gona relax. Unfortunately, it also loosened the tongues and lowered inhibitions, and Lexa already had two glasses. One more and she might have agreed to dance with the old man.

“I have had enough for one evening. Mochof.”

“Heda is serious beyond her years.” Fynbar chuckled and turned around toward the man sitting on the other side of him. “Another glass, Marcus? You will not find better in the whole Kongeda.”

“I really shouldn’t,” Marcus said as he approached his empty cup. “Mochof. This wine is delicious. We produce a few bottles every year in Mount Weather for big occasions, but nothing that compares.”

Lexa watched Fynbar refill the Maunon ambassador’s cup for the fourth time with discreet amusement. The sweet wine hid its strength well, and Marcus might come to regret his indulgence.

The Trikru, Trishanakru, and Louwoda Kliron gona cheered around them as the music changed and another popular tune started.

“It is good to see our people celebrate together.”

Lexa hummed at Fynbar’s comment, her eyes not moving from the children waving colorful ribbons in the air. To have three clans sharing dinner, eight meeting in a few days… The Coalition grew, and with it, the promise of peace. If the Spirit willed it, she would see it before her death.

“I did not think I would see it in this life,” Fynbar said, echoing Lexa’s thoughts. “We were blessed the day the Spirit chose you, Heda.”

The light of the bonfires flickered, projecting dancing shadows on the visages around. To Lexa’s relief, in the absence of her warpaint, they hid her blush from her companion’s kind gaze.

Titus, not one for exuberant compliments, had taught her the three pillars of the Commander: wisdom, compassion, and strength. Qualities Anya had nurtured in her with a firm yet fair hand. But if it were up to Lexa, she would add patience to the list. And enough backbone to withstand, alone, critics. Whispered behind closed doors or spit at her face by defiant clan leaders, ambassadors, unhappy gona… She had faced her share of those since Titus placed the Flame in her neck, sometimes warranted, often not. Praises, on the other hand, were a rarity. Especially genuine ones delivered without a hidden agenda.

“Leaders like you made this dream possible.”

Keep reading

[lunafaeris-archive]

@xaallo said :

!!! @ Anton

send “!!!” to find my muse broken, dirty, and covered in blood.

          Another relentless assault from the Heartless had left him beaten, battered and in utter shambles as he clawed face down at the ground, willing himself to channel what little strength he had in finding the where-with-all to stand. Their attacks were becoming more and more desperate by the day, that he couldn’t escape from their sheer numbers alone if he tried. Not only that, but he was still working out the kinks in the new arm prosthesis that Luna had given him, that he wasn’t as adept in covering his left side. It was as if the shadow magic was rejecting his status as a keybearer of light that his right arm wasn’t responding to him when he needed it the most. Maybe the Heartless could sense the apprehension in him, the imbalance between light and dark that gave way to weakness... No. No. No. He shook his head, shooing away any thoughts that might have discouraged him even further or send him spiraling down into the pits of despair. He wasn’t going to give up because of a setback like this - he had too many people depending on him, kneeling into the dirt as he wobbled back upright onto his feet, still majorly unsteady as his head throbbed in pain, blood blurring his vision.

          It was then that he heard a noise, something shift in the background, that instantly put him back on high alert and gave him an iron grip on his keyblade, turning his knuckles bony white. He wasn’t in any shape to take on anymore of the Heartless, as he was pretty sure one or two of ribs may have been broken in the last fight, making it difficult for him to breathe... but he had to be cautious. Most importantly, he had to stay calm in spite of his injuries, lest he risked exacerbating them further.

                  “ ... Wh-who’s there? Show yourself!! ”

[oathofpromises]

Kairi shook her head as her hands clenched into fists. He didn’t understand how she felt at all. It was like he was trying to help but some of the words he said hurt.

“T-that’s not the point..you really don’t get it Sora. You’ve hardly been alone in your life. You always had friends there to support you. There are moments in my life I was utterly alone. I felt abandoned over and over again and no one cares. Did anyone care I was left on the islands to wait, no.” She said, as her voice was rising in anger. This was the first time she felt so angry at Sora.

“I was never special, only picked to be a princess of heart out of luck. I’ve never done anything remotely of honoring that title.” She stated, as she got up and looked down at Sora. Her eyes held more anger now then anything. The red-haired girl turned as she ran towards the mansion.

Sure, it might be running away from her problems at the moment but she thought Sora might be abit understanding. Instead she was only met with words that hurt her heart. Riku and him would never understand how alone she felt or how powerless. The girl slammed the mansion door behind her as she locked it. Sliding to the ground, she curled up into a ball as she started crying. Kairi was tired of all this so much so, that she hadn’t even checked to see if Sora followed her.

“He truly doesn’t get it...” stated a deep voice. She looked up to see a boy in a black like suit wearing a mask. He walked towards her as he stared down at her form.

“W-what...who are you?” She asked, as he grabbed Kairi by her wrist and yanked her up. The boy simply laughed as he pinned her to the door with one hand.

“I wonder...how much pain he’ll be in when he hears you scream out for help. You should just give into those negative emotions..it gives you power.” He chuckled, as two unversed wrapped wrapped Kairi to hold her to the door.

“OH SORA,I HOPE YOU HEAR HER CRIES OF PAIN!” Laughed the masked boy, as he casted fire on the defenseless Kairi. The Red-Haired girl screamed out in pain.

This is my fault...running away from the issue instead of talking it out with Sora...

The fire felt like it was burning her skin, she let out agonizing screams as he attacked her over and over with various spells. As if that wasn’t enough, he slashed at her with his keyblade. Kairi felt herself cough out blood as the unversed released her and she fell to the ground. She winced as she tried to crawl away from the masked stranger. Every fiber of her being aching as she did so.

“Come on, your suppose to be a keyblade wielder right? But of course, your a princess of heart first so, not a surprise you can’t fight back. Depending on others to help you. How pathetic.” He scoffed, as he brought a foot down on her back. Kairi cried out in pain as he took one of her arms and twisted it behind her back.

“COME ON HERO, SHE’S GOING DIE AT THIS RATE!!” He shouted, as if trying egg Sora on. Kairi bit her bottom lip as she didn’t have energy to fight back at this moment. Too worn out from all their previous fights and honestly her emotional state was huge part of that.

Why bother getting up anyway...not like I’m needed by them to win this war...

The masked boy yanked Kairi up by her hair as blood tricked down her forehead. He laughed at how injuried she was and seemed to be taking in the sight of pain he inflicted on the girl.

No, I can’t give up yet

The boy gasped as white light surrounded her. Sensing something off he released her and jumped back. When he looked back at the girl, he noticed she was covered in white light but noticed claws and pink colored eyes.

“Anti-form, for a princess of heart....this is new.” He mumbled, and stumbled back as she ran at him with almost inhuman speeds. Her claws slashed at him as he struggled to defend against her.

Anti-form Kairi was here....

oathofpromises​:

Kairi stopped as she heard him say he wanted to understand. The girl knew Sora meant well but it felt like her pain was nothing more than part of some bigger plan.

“What good would it do to explain, it’s in the past. Nothing can be done to change what happened. Talking about it would only make it worse. Let’s just focus on this mission and then Yen Sid can decide if we truly are meant to work as a team.” Her voice came out a bit colder then she intended it to.

Her anger was more directed at others then the boy beside her. Of course, some of his words, as truthful as they were did hurt. Not that she could explain as to why exactly without getting into past memories. But maybe he did need to know what exactly she went through.

The red-haired girl found a spot under a tree and patted the spot next to her as she sat under in. Taking a deep breath she gathered the strength to explain everything she felt those times he and Riku were gone.

“Sora, you and Riku have gone through stuff too but neither of you understands that I went through stuff too. Just imagine how you would feel if you were left behind and constantly forced to wait. Not knowing if people you care about are okay or feeling this growing distance starts to form between you three. It hurt okay. That people didn’t think I was strong enough to help. That I was simply labeled as just a princess and expected to wait calmly on the islands. I can’t just pretend that nothing was wrong. I know when you were put to sleep to restore your memories you had no way of contacting me but the fact it happened in the first place is frustrating.”

Why was it just talking about all this made her heartache? It wasn’t like she liked to talk about that time or show people how truly hurt she was. It would only upset them or make them blame themselves for it.

“Sora, you and Riku could never understand how lone I was or how it hurt to have my memories alter and taken from me. I don’t blame Namine, she was only doing what she was forced to do in the first place but my entire life I’ve had people decide stuff for me. I have never once felt part of the group despite being one of your closest friends. I feel our bond slowly tearing at parts because things have simply made us distance from one another.” She said as she held hands to her heart. As much as she hated talking about this. The girl knew nothing would ever change if they continued the way they were now.

How long had the red-haired girl kept all these feelings hidden? It seemed like years at this point.

“I’m tired of being treated like this fragile doll that everyone has to coddle. I work my butt off to train and still that is never enough. You and Riku or even you, Donald and Goofy can work so well as a team. Where I can only get hurt or cause issues. Don’t pretend you understand how I feel..you always had friends with you. Where I was abandoned and left to wait. How long can someone wait before they break?” She asked as tears fall from her eyes. The girl hated crying like this.

It wasn’t like she wanted Sora to feel sorry for her but to understand where she was coming from. That the reason she blamed herself for him getting hurt when he protected her was because of this treatment.

“I’m tired…of being left behind or having my fate decided for me. Never once in my life have I felt like I was in control of my destiny. Someone else was always deciding things for me. I didn’t have a say in the matter.”

Her voice seemed a bit shaky the more she talked but the girl managed to stop crying and regain her composure.

“So you see, you and Riku think I’m strong when I’m not or at least I don’t feel like it. I just feel like this tool tossed around and only used when needed. So there…that’s how I felt.” She turned her face away from Sora, as it hurt to look him in the eyes this second. Was it too much to expect someone to actually treat her as an equal versus a princess? The girl knew Sora had moments where he cared so much about her safety that he unintentionally treated like this fragile person. Kairi knew he didn’t do it on purpose but it still hurt that Riku and he felt they needed to put themselves in harm’s way to save her.

♕ - He finds himself taken aback from growing veins of anger he’s picked up since they delved not just into this topic, but more they pried with her permission to look into these past feelings. It clenched the soul hard inside to see even hints of the heaviness that reflects within her eyes, a testament to those thoughts that managed to hide within her light. “We wouldn’t have any secrets between us. No Yen Sid, nothing with the King or anything about the mission right now, just us.” Responsibility is part of the mantle that they dawn.

Never however was it supposed to be this way.

Hope was inspired once it seems like she was willing to share. Not even the earlier exhaustion abated drew relief to this level as he’s quick to follow, propping his back against the supportive oak before allowing himself to slip down, planting himself right next to Kairi before he adjusts him, his posture upright and eyes attentive as he looks to the side. A respective silence is given so the girl held the entire stage to express exactly how the extent of this adventures felt to her.

What he’s drawn into is away from the grassy flooring and the sight of her strained face, rather, he’s whisked away by the depths of her story and exactly how her heart perceived everything that began to happen. How she saw things time and time again get beyond her control and being left with a point where ‘protection’ found itself to be more of a prison. He can feel the tension brew within his gut while he refuses to speak, to forwardly face the pace she’s been forced to let fester all this time in the depths of her heart.

Once she finishes and allows herself to turn away, to once again let him see the tips of that fiery heart, hinting streaks of those tears along with the anguish that’s only going to grow further at this rate, he couldn’t stop himself with speaking. “Kairi? What’s so wrong with a princess? Being a princess?”

“That..” He stubbornly shakes his head while regaining another breath, bracing himself solidly as he decides to speak.”Princesses, just like anyone else, can be anyone and anywhere that they want to be! I don’t think for a second that you’re doomed to one thing every just being one! That it would be the case for you!”

“If someone dull and ordinary like me tackle all of this to make a change, then I say you‘ve always had a higher chance from the start.”

Within moments he reaches up and back, patting a firm pat of his fist upon his own chest. A fire was lighting up within his eyes as he intends to bare this pain alongside of her, to try and find ways to push through those very dark thoughts. “Like for us getting hurt? That is no one’s fault outside of our lack of time. And that’s what I want to work on too! To where it’s not sacrificing our bodies, we’re saving by deflecting, to the point we even know how we breath, sleep and eat without thinking twice! ..Not that it was meant to be that extreme. But–”

“We’ve never had a chance to learn that compared to them! Me and Riku pretty much sparred and fought our whole lives together, so we’d know our tricks regardless.. With Donald and Goofy? We actually use to get in fights because we never even knew how to work well! We kept bashing our heads together.. well, me and Donald did mostly while Goofy tried to be the middle man. It.. Was hard, I’m pretty sure I wanted to strangle Donald a few times and no doubt he wanted to do the same for me!”

“And that’s why I’m not giving up on us learning either. ..I feel as if I let this guilt inside of you do whatever it wants, even the worst of it just feel fine even if it’s not.”

“Being Kairi, being a princess, making your own way– I think all of that can be done and even more.”

[oflgtfol]

what strikes me about The Missing Piece is that it's supposed to be ahrima and nidria's love song but it's like.......... entirely about ahrima.

of course, from a doylist perspective i would say this is just the casual sexism within the writing lol. there's literally only two (2) women and they both exist really only as love interests for the main male protags. but anhura at least gets to play a major role in the plot of act 2 as well - nidria gets jack shit in act 1. she solely exists to hype up ahrima. the fact that this song isn't really about her despite her being A. ahrima's love interest, B. the narrative parallel of anhura who is a major player in act 2, and C. this being her only singing appearance in the whole album, could easily be waved away as just another example of the way the female characters are sidelined

FROM A WATSONIAN PERSPECTIVE HOWEVER (and my personal favorite explanation because then i get to pretend its a conscious, intelligent decision), this is indicative of how utterly self-centered ahrima is. he doesn't love nidria for who she is as an actual person, he only loves her because she believes his claim to greatness. she's the only one who entertains his fantasies of power, and that is consistently the only thing he praises her for.

literally the song starts by contrasing ahrima's sudden disdain for O and his sudden love for nidria:

He overlooked my gift and benefit She's the only who knows what I could’ve done

ahrima resents O for not recognizing his greatness. likewise, ahrima loves nidria because she DOES.

the first verse then continues on:

I must be patient They will realize what I know inside I was meant to lead this world to greater things It's my destiny

thus, ahrima ties nidria once more to his fantasy of greatness. he likes her because he believes she's the only one who's "realized" how great he is.

i always thought it was weird for a love song to be simultaneously about the pair falling in love, but also pushing the protagonist's Main Character Syndrome. one moment he's all like. "oh nidria you're so wonderful uwu." and then two lines later he's literally proclaiming that it's his destiny to be some epic great dude. i always thought it was some weird tonal dissonance like get your priorities straight... but no! it doesn't have to be a tonal dissonance. it can be an intelligent decision to characterize ahrima, showing that his priorities AREN'T straight! even in a love song about nidria, he still cannot shut up about how great he's going to be!!!

and nidria's small part in this song is solely to validate his fantasies. she doesn't get a word in about herself, either, not even in her own voice. her role in this song is solely to hype ahrima up because that's all that he cares to hear, and that's the only reason why he keeps her around.

this is best seen in this part where she doesn't even use her own words, she just parrots his own back to him and he eats it right up

You must be patient They will realize what I see inside You were meant to lead this world to greater things It's your destiny

probably the closest ahrima gets to praising nidria as an individual is this:

Everything seems to fade when I see her face The sky and trees all blur every time I look at her! Nobody understood me 'til her eyes fixed upon me My puzzle life's complete, now that I found the missing piece!

and again, it's all about ahrima! it's about how HE feels about her, rather than praising any intrinsic qualities within her. it's not, "wow look at her she's so beautiful and smart and kind" (actual things About Her), it's just "i'm so great, and she recognizes that. i enjoy looking at her" (things she does For Him)

now you can brush these off as just weird writing choices, because nidria says the same things about ahrima, like the same verse just with different pronouns. but i'd argue that still exemplifies ahrima's self centeredness due to the fact that

ahrima speaks first in this song. every verse that nidria says was directly said by ahrima first, except for like the first four lines of her first verse. therefore i say it reflects more about how he sees nidria than how nidria sees him since he was the first to say it.

in that way, it deprives nidria of a voice of her own, and only serves to make it seem like she's just parroting his own words back to him. like ahrima loves the sound of his voice so much that he only loves nidria because she echoes him.

tl;dr - ahrima is the most self centered arrogant little asshole ever that even in the most selfless of his songs he still manages to make it all about himself <3

[absolutebl]

This Week In BL

May 2021 Wk 2

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Lovely Writer Ep 12 fin - that was a long arse final ep, but solid performances. I liked that we focused on the fallout amongst the side characters. (Very clever of them to depict Chap with Tae, his Y-Destiny pairing. Especially as both actors are slated for new BL roles with different partners again, The Tuxedo and You’re My Sky.) The camera certainly enjoyed wallowing in Sib & Gene’s separation, but that’s an Asian drama for you. They like to DWELL. (Frankly, I like a bit of wallowing myself.) I thought the inclusion of the “actual” writer at the very end thoroughly unnecessary. I don’t think they had to beat us over the head with the 4th wall meta quite that much. Still, this is probably one of the best BLs we’re getting from non-GMMtV Thailand this year. RECOMMENDED 

Y-Destiny Ep 8 - (Thurs) I found the first half uninteresting but once Casper the Friendly Gay showed up it was fine. The ghost reminded me a bit of Fuse from MIR. 

Close Friend Ep 4: (Just One Life) - is it just me or is Talay insanely charismatic? Anygay, the director got ahold of a drone for this one and would like us to KNOW ABOUT THAT FACT. Look, I just don’t think YoonLay have great chemistry but this was alright, cute enough. 

Fish Upon The Sky Ep 6 - This was a better installment than we’ve had in a while. I like the obsession vs love explanation from Mork, insightful if creepy. Meen & Duean are okay, I guess. A bit annoying. Everyone in this show is a bit annoying. But the wipe toothpaste then wipe eye crud got to me. Toothpaste in the eye, yech! And then I was all, oh that’s basically this show: toothpaste in the eye. It just reviewed itself. (Also why do they keep switching aspect ratio between the two pairs? It’s like they were filming with two completely different camera types... oh. ah. Weird, GMMTV usually doesn’t make mistakes like that.) 

Call it What You Want Ep 6 fin - I skipped to the last ep on this, I told you I do that sometimes to find out what happened. So CIWYW ends happy for the main couple, but trigger warnings on: eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, depression, mental abuse, and a few other things. If you don’t mind your BL dark, gritty, self aware, and honest then you should be okay with this show. But if your preference is for fluff, then there are other fish in the sky. Speaking of... 

Nitiman Ep 2 - Giving me My Engineer vibes. This is OLD school Thai uni BL. I kinda feel like it was meant to come out in 2018, the gap year that was, but I am SO GRATEFUL we’re getting it now. Pay TF attention FUTS this is how you redeem a tsundere uke. Also I love that Bboom is just a terrible flirt and the football match twist was great. I love this show.  

Top Secret Together Ep 1 - it’s out there but no eng subs. It’s an office set romance with multiple couples all tangential to one building. A bit stilted and low production values but I’m intrigued. I hope we get subs... eventually.  

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 9 - gets the safe sex gold star for lube + condoms AND a verse discussion? Not to mention asking for sex advice from queer fam? Is this a first in BL? Might be. (I still think it’s weird that product placement hasn’t jumped on the lube bandwagon, too slippery perhaps?) I like the embezzlement drama. I always enjoy good outside conflict playing to setting, and this is the kind to be easily resolved in next week’s finale. What a roller coster this series has been. 

Papa & Daddy (Taiwan) Ep 5 - I LOVE THIS SHOW. A heartbeat after i thought, “they better address what he’s doing to the girls he’s dating,” they did it. Clever scripting that. The messaging is gorgeous, the idea that pride and media coverage and knowing about a changing world can broaden minds and lead to acceptance was basically Taiwan making a case for itself paving the way for marriage equality in Asia. Genius. 

Most Peaceful Place 2 (Vietnam) Ep 1 (AKA 4) - dropped with subs and improved production values, someone is learning (or got more dough). The younger brother’s drama is a bit confusing, but I am here for cute boyfriends being cute boyfriends together. And I love that they took the seme’s previous pair (from Nation’s Brother) to be the faen fatale, very crafty of them. Even though it’s not a trope I like, there’s great chemistry all around. 

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam) Ep 6 - I weirdly love this show, okay? I’m just hoping Long has known Minh’s secret all along and is playing a reverse long con cat & mouse game, waiting for Minh to tell him the truth. Because that would be THE BEST. I could do without the faen fatale but ya can’t have everything. (I’m so glad it’s not the standard 6 ep arc, MOAR!!!) 

Gossip 

Rumor is GMMTV Thailand started shooting Baker Boys (here’s the teaser trailer). This is a remake of Antique (AKA Antique Bakery) a 2008 Korean movie (you can watch it on Viki) which is a remake of Antique (a 2001 Japanese series) with is an adaptation of wildly popular manga Antique Bakery. Knowing the plot I’m not sure this will qualify as BL. I’m still predicting Lee gets his first gay kiss in this series from Singto. More details about this series here. 

Breaking News

Love Area release pushed out, reportedly due to C19. (source DramaCool) 

Be Love In House: I Do (Taiwan, of course, with that title) got a new softer trailer (no subs). It drops next week, May 19, 2021 on Viki. All the information I have is here. 

Tangential to BL 

Two BL-adjacent shows, both from Taiwan. 

I’m watching Love is Science? on Viki which has a het foundation, but it’s a good one. There’s a BL side couple who are on an enemies to lovers slow burn trajectory; featuring a disaster bi slut meets elegant bad ass super gay. So there’s THAT. The mains are an older career woman and the sweet boy from her distant past who has pined for her for years. (He is the softest sweetest service sub you ever saw.) Props to Taiwan for a seriously underused het dynamic. As usual in Asian rom coms the straight boy love interest is a Perfect Cinnamon Role (yes I’m looking at you True Beauty & Love O2O) but I find Taiwan’s version more palatable than Korea’s or Mainland China’s. It’s not finished yet but... RECOMMENDED. 

Starting this week is Love Outlet a 50 (?!) episode show about a mall that sells relationships. It is supposed to have a main gay romance, but it might be a side dish. Very little else known about it. Coming to Line TV.

Honestly, I’m at the point where if Taiwan makes it, I’ll probably watch it. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International accessibility reasons.

Starting:

Be Loved In House: I Do (Taiwan) 

Golden Blood (Thailand) we think, like Love Area this may be delayed due to surging C19 cases 

Love Outlet (Taiwan) we think 

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

[oathofpromises]

❝ is this the face of someone who’d lie to you ? ❞ ( Terranort for Aqua )

𝕮𝖊𝖗𝖚𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖓 𝖊𝖞𝖊𝖘 𝖓𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖉 𝖆𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖞 𝖋𝖔𝖈𝖚𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓 𝖔𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗. 𝕬𝖘 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖉𝖘 𝖇𝖊𝖌𝖆𝖓 𝖙𝖔 𝖘𝖎𝖓𝖐 𝖎𝖓, 𝖆 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖔 𝖋𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖑𝖞 𝖗𝖊𝖋𝖚𝖘𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗'𝖘 𝖆𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓. However, knowing the body belonged to Terra, someone that meant the whole world to Aqua, only seemed to make things difficult.

“Do you want the honest truth? You would lie to my face because that’s how you work. There’s never a time you don’t try and manipulate things in your favor. You may have Terra’s body, but that doesn’t mean I trust you.” Aqua turned her back to him, glancing out at the sunset. Reaching into her pocket, the keyblade master pulled out the familiar blue colored charm.  It was hard even to stare at Terranort in the eyes, so long as he was using her friend’s body. Clenching the charm tighter, she had tried so hard to keep Ven and Terra safe, to bring them both home. However, things had taken a turn, and after falling into the realm of darkness, Aqua was unable to return on her own. It was even worse after losing her keyblade, feeling herself sink into the darkness. It almost felt like she had failed. That Terra was stuck as a prisoner inside his own body. 

‘Together...always. ‘  Those were the words she had said that night, handing each of them the star shaped charm. A part of her wondered if Terranort even held onto Terra’s, or perhaps had gotten rid of it long ago. The white-haired keyblade wielder seemed to react to any sign of weakness. Perhaps having too many memories of Terra would allow the other to regain control of his body. 

“I said that I would cast you out of Terra’s body for good, and I intend to keep that promise. Answer me this, why linger inside his body? You know that Ven and I will both do whatever it takes to get Terra back, even if that means having to fight you for years.” 

Aqua eyes narrowed, as she placed the charm back into her pocket. There were so many emotions flowing through her body whenever she saw him. She tries hard to keep her anger in check, but it becomes more difficult as she spends more time with Terranort. There were moments when she could tell Terra was poking back through. Trying so hard to regain control over his own body, Aqua felt that if she had better kept Ven and Terra safe, neither one would’ve had to go through all this. It was painful to think that she had only pushed them further apart, something that tended to happen no matter how much she cared about another person. In the end, they would end up hurt or worse. Shaking her head, the blue haired woman tried to rid herself of those thoughts. It had been years since the start of this journey. The number of losses they had to endure, the obstacles they all had to face, 

There was a part of the keyblade master, that could blame Terra for giving into darkness like he did. During that time. Their master had really put a lot of pressure on their shoulders, and one keyblaee truly was enough to ruin any friendship. Aqua had seen it in Terra’s eyes as they fought. How even the slightest tipcould cause someone to trend down the wrong path. Rainfell appeared when she raised her hand. It was her very first keyblade and the one that meant the most to her. 

“Tell me why you came to me now, or cut to the chase and do whatever it is you came here for."  

It was pretty obvious the woman was letting anger cloud her judgment; normally she would be calm and collected during any situation. However, being around Terranort was a whole other story. Seeing the other did nothing but enrage her, especially considering how he played mind games with Terra's body. It was frustrating and only added to the fact that she had failed to keep one of the most important people in her life safe. He was a painful reminder of a time Aqua had allowed things to fall out of her fingers. Clenching her hand, she reached into her pocket, pulling out the charm again. Slowly, she held it up for Terranort to take in, hoping maybe somewhere deep down the other hadn’t tossed the one she made Terra away. 

“Maybe you don’t care, but Terra does. Look at this charm and tell me you don’t remember any of the memories shared. They might not be your own, but they are his, and I won’t let you drown those in darkness. THEY MATTER AND SO DOES HE!” 

‘ A Keyblade Master wielding your key in anger? Shameful. ‘ 

It didn’t matter if the other taunted her, tried to convince her darkness was the right path. It’s what he had always done in the past. Even tried to lure Ventus over to his side, which again nothing but cause her blood to boil. She wouldn’t lose them again, even if it took everything the woman had remaining to snap Terra out of this. Aqua was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice, for years she spent in the dark realm. It was all too real feeling that isolation, knowing full well Terra was still out there fighting his own. 

It was up to Terranort if he wanted to fight, it had always ended that way in the past. Recalling the other's hands around her neck. Feeling air leave her lungs, as she could only struggle to escape. Did he feel any remorse at all? A part of her felt like he only cared about Kingdom Hearts. Nothing else mattered to him, not even the people he hurt and ruined. 

[mornyavie]

Glossary of references in The Bifrost Incident

 It’s Very Long and yet also not really complete. If there are any questions / clarifications I can add, or I’ve messed anything up and need to fix it, let me know!

The tl;dr is that nearly every word in the album draws from either Norse mythology or the Lovecraft / Cthulhu mythos, directly or indirectly.

@moony221b here’s that glossary that I promised forever and a day ago.

Edit: I decided to create this document of annotations (x). Lyrics taken from Genius; I’m not totally sure how accurate they are, but hopefully they help get the point across! Again, questions and complaints both welcome.

Arcomba

I can’t find anything on this, would be interested if someone knows.

Asgard

One of the Nine Worlds, specifically the one where most of the Æsir (the subset of gods most associated with humans, including the well-known ones like Thor and Odin) live.

Thus Asgard is the planet on which the most powerful inhabitants of the Yggdrasil system, and those named after the gods, are found (though the subjugation / colonization relationship does not exist in myth).

Azathoth

This one’s from Lovecraft; Azathoth is the greatest of the Outer Gods, often served and worshiped by other gods themselves. Often described as mad, a demon, a sultan, or putting it all together as the Mad Demon Sultan. Resides at “the center of the universe,” where he appears as some sort of vast, amorphous, bubbling, roiling mass of “nuclear chaos.” (Nuclear probably refers to center, not nuclear power, which didn’t really exist when this was written). Servants about him play drums and flutes.

Mentioned briefly as the train travels through the Bifrost and into his realm, and a lot of the narration in those few verses draws directly from Lovecraft’s descriptions.

Baldur

The god of light and beloved by all, Baldr was killed by Loki in his final betrayal of the gods. After the murder Loki was tracked down and imprisoned, and will escape at the start of Ragnarok. In particular, Loki used a spear made of mistletoe... or, in the album, missile two. And tricked another god into throwing it, which I think is mimicked in the distance and impersonality of the crime. Look up more of his story if you want, it’s interesting and important, but that’s the relevant info here.

Bifrost

The rainbow bridge that the gods use to travel between worlds. 

Which is, of course, directly analogous to the wormhole-ish extradimensional-ish space of “shifting, undulating hues” through which the train travels.

Edda

The Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda are the names given to two pieces of literature that are most people’s main source for Norse mythology. The Prose Edda was written by Snorri Sturluson around 1200 to teach his (mostly Christian) contemporaries about the mythology and mythological references that made up a big chunk of Norse literature. The Poetic Edda is a set of poems that serve as a major source for Norse tales.

This is partially just a way to connect our hero Lyfrassir Edda to the Norse traditions, but also definitely a reference to their (presumed) role as the main “recorder” and source of information to get out of the Yggdrasil system.

Fate

Honestly the way the Mechanisms deal with fate in general is very interesting and arguably sometimes quite Nordic... but in particular, Bifrost Incident references fate or destiny a number of times and features a number of situations where the outcome is fixed and can’t be changed, but you have to fight anyways: “Killing me won’t save your world” “I don’t care” or how Loki and Sigyn can’t stop the train, but can only delay it. A lot of Norse tragedy revolves around people heading into battle knowing that they’re doomed and fighting anyways, or around the cycle of conflict that marked the cultural requirements for avenging insults. And the myth cycle is notable for the fact that the gods know, explicitly, exactly what Ragnarok is, what’s going to happen, and how they’re going to die, but will fight in it anyways. 

Inevitability and helplessness in the face of what you can’t possibly understand, let alone fight, which is a depiction slightly sideways of the Nordic version, are very Lovecraftian themes.

Fenrir

A wolf, child of Loki and father of Skoll and Hati, who was chained by the gods (particularly by Tyr, who placed his hand in the wolf’s mouth as “hostage” to assure him they would unchain him later, and lost the hand). He will break free at Ragnarok to join the battle against them and kill Odin.

With his association with monsters and with Loki, it’s fairly clear why he was aligned with the resistance movement. He’s serving “five life sentences” as a reference to his being chained, and the whole motif of the train’s journey being hijacked for a prison break certainly references the various characters who will be freed or break free as Ragnarok begins.

Frey

The brief reference of Frey being killed by the raging fire of the sun, with “no weapon, no defense,” is a direct translation of the god’s role in Ragnarok, when he will be killed by Surtr. Frey gave away his sword for the opportunity to woo his eventual wife, and so will be armed only with a stag’s antlers in his final combat. Also called Freyr.

Freya (“weeps tears of red-gold”)

Like her brother Frey (and yeah, these names get confusing), Freya is associated with harvest and fertility, though unlike him she also gets battle. In the song she weeps red-gold tears at the death of her husband Odr, which in myth she is said to do when her husband is absent. Also called Freyja.

Garm

Garm is another wolf, who guards Hel’s gates. He also breaks free at Ragnarok, and his howling heralds its coming. As in the album, he will fight and kill Tyr. Also called Garmr.

Hati

There’s a lot of wolves in Norse mythology. This one is a child of Fenrir. He chases the moon across the sky, and will swallow it when Ragnarok comes.

Mentioned briefly only as one of the resistance members on the train.

Heimdall

Heimdall is the watchman of the gods, with keen eyes and foresight, and guards the Bifrost as the entrance to Asgard. He will blow his horn to summon the gods to the final battle during Ragnarok, and he and Loki will kill one another. Also called Heimdallr; you’re probably noticing a pattern. It’s a grammar thing.

Mentioned as guarding the train and “doing his part.” His dying screams initiate the train’s destruction and echo throughout it, which presumably recalls the horn thing.

Hel

Another daughter of Loki, and, as the name will imply to English speakers, a guardian of the dead. She refuses to give Baldur back to the world of the living after Loki kills him. Also the name of the realm in which she resides, and to which go those who die of disease or old age. Doesn’t necessarily have the same bad-punishment connotation as modern Hell. I don’t know whether there’s any indication of what she herself is doing in Ragnarok, but many of her people and associates are certainly fighting against the gods, and I’m fairly certain the ship Naglfar, which carries Loki and his allies to Ragnarok, sets sail from Hel.

Hel as a prison colony clearly references the various characters the gods have chained or otherwise imprisoned (though, in myth, not all within Hel) as well as her alignment with “other side” during Ragnarok, and the jailbreak the resistance members are planning recalls the breaking of all these bonds as Ragnarok begins.

Hoddmimis

The woods in which Líf and Lífþrasir (see Lyfrassir) will shelter to survive Ragnarok and the various disasters accompanying it. 

So, good news! We can be marginally assured of Lyfrassir’s survival after taking shelter at the mining-colony of Hoddmimis.

Jormungandr

The world serpent, which lives in the seas and encircles the earth. Will arise during Ragnarok, causing great floods, and fight Thor; Thor will slay the serpent, but in turn the serpent’s poison will cause his death, after he staggers “nine steps back.”

Thor’s fight with Odin-turned-serpent is pretty clearly analogous to this, especially the taking nine steps to the window before destroying it with his hammer, resulting in both their deaths. I don’t think there’s any mythological basis to Odin turning into the serpent, though

Kvasir (“blood drained out”)

Kvasir was a very wise man/god and the originator of poetry. I’m leaving out a fair amount of his birth and life; the important information here is that two dwarves who were jealous of his knowledge tricked him, killed him, drained his blood, and mixed it with honey to make mead. Any who drank of the mead gained the gift of poetry / scholarship; eventually the gods stole it.

I’m not sure if there’s a reason they decided to specifically describe him as a resistance member, but there’s a clear parallel in Kvasir’s blood being drained and used to power the train, especially with the language of glyphs and sigils providing power.

Loki

Ah, Loki. Male in the general canon, though not without genderbending (he turns into a mare and gives birth to Fenrir, Hel, and Jormungandr, for instance). Inasmuch as the Norse myths we have can be organized into a “chronology,” you could do it (in my opinion) along Loki’s path from a mostly benevolent trickster god whose antics occasionally cause trouble to a genuinely malevolent figure. Associated with wit, magic, and trickery. Despite how modern lore (I suspect influenced by Marvel) often portrays Thor and Loki as brothers and children of Odin, in the myth Loki and Odin are bonded as blood-brothers. But Loki also often appears alongside Thor. As mentioned, parent of three of the main figures of Ragnarok. In the “final” myth, he jealously arranges the death of the god Baldr, who was loved by all; then he appears at a feast, where he exchanges insults with the other gods. This is the last straw; they capture him and chain him to a stone, over which they tie a serpent. Venom drips from the serpent’s fangs, causing him great agony. His wife Sigyn stays by his side, catching the venom in a bowl, but when she is forced to leave for a moment to dump it out his thrashing causes earthquakes. He will break free at the start of Ragnarok and sail to Asgard, where he and Heimdall will kill each other.

Hopefully that’s enough to give you a good background for Loki’s role in the album... it’s pretty clear why she’s framed as the opposition to the gods and the “leader” of the resistance movement, as a call to her role in Ragnarok. Her association with magic and trickery make sense for her being the “expert” in the twisted Lovecraftian “science” that produces the train. It also parallels her role in myth; her actions often get the gods into trouble, but they just as often need her wit and knowledge to get them out of it, as Odin needs her knowledge despite her taking action to destroy the train. And the setup at the end - drip, drip, drip, her face twisted in pain, her wife beside her, her “release” heralding the end of the world - precisely echoes the language of her bondage in myth; though her mind-destroying imprisonment by Odin also invokes this.

Lovecraft(ian)

A highly influential horror writer from the early 20th century. He’s largely credited with the creation of the creation of the “cosmic horror” genre, a type of horror which emphasises a vast, unknowable, uncaring universe against which we cannot hope to even begin to fight. His ideas and the gods / demons / creatures he created form the basis of the “Cthulhu mythos” or even “Lovecraft mythos,” which today is a sort of standard set of assumptions on which writers can build. Lovecraftian themes of apocalypse, inevitability, and powerlessness are highly prevalent in the album. Several of the gods in this mythos are used; in particular, Yog-Sothoth (see below). Also, a lot of the general description (madness, roiling chaos, undulating colors) draws from his distinctive vocabulary that remains staple of the genre. It’s worth noting that Lovecraft was a horrible and very racist person, but the genre today is widely used by people who are not terrible.

Lyfrassir

Líf and Lífþrasir in Norse mythology are the two humans who will survive Ragnarok and rebuild humanity; a hopeful sign for our album’s protagonist!

Midgard

In Norse mythology, the “middle” world where humans live. Earth.

Nagthrod

I don’t know this one.

@acorn-mushroom pointed out that it may be a mis-transcription of Naglfar, the name of the (ocean) ship which will carry Loki and his followers from the shores of Hel to the battlefield at Ragnarok. It’s made of dead men’s nails.

Odin

The king of the gods in Norse mythology. As the god of both wisdom and madness, Odin’s role in the album as a researcher and technological ruler whose discoveries drive her slowly mad is both very Lovecraftian and a reasonable leap. I could say a lot about the figure of Odin, but I think this character is one of the most divergent from the myth, in detail if not in role.

Odr

Óðr is Freya’s husband.

Outer gods

A Lovecraft thing referring to several of the most horrible and powerful gods, including Yog-Sothoth.

Ragnarok

The apocalypse, basically, in Norse mythology. Proceeded by various catastrophes, especially a very long winter, mentioned in the album, culminating in a great battle between the gods and their enemies, and resulting in the death of the majority of gods and other creatures of the world.

Ratatosk

A squirrel who runs up and down Yggdrasil, carrying messages between some of the tree’s other inhabitants and sowing discord. The Ratatosk Express links the worlds of the Yggdrasil System, and causes “discord” in the resistance’s opposition to it.

Sigyn

Loki’s wife. See Loki for her role in his imprisonment.

Skoll

Sköll in Norse mythology is the wolf that chases and will someday eat the sun. Association with Fenrir (another wolf) and other monsters motivates his inclusion in the list of resistance members.

Thor

A Norse god, associated with war, lightning/thunder, strength, and in general sort of... common people, as opposed to Odin’s association with kings and royalty. Prone to anger, which makes sense with his depiction as a volatile military leader in the album. He is heavily associated with his hammer mjölnir, hence jokes about “throwing a hammer in the works” and whatnot. Often associates with Loki, both as friends and as enemies as Loki progresses from a mostly-harmless trickster to actively opposing the other gods; thus how in the album he and Loki were once friends. See above for his death fighting Jormungandr.

Tyr

Another Norse god associated with war. He sacrificed a hand to bind Fenrir, and will be killed by Garmr during Ragnarok, both events referenced in the album.

Yggdrasil

The world-tree of Norse mythology, which supports the nine worlds of the cosmology. 

Yog-Sothoth

An Outer God of Lovecraftian mythos; also called the Gate and Key. It is associated as sort of the substance of time and space, binding together the cosmos. A lot of the description during the Ragnarok sequences draws directly from the “canonical” descriptions of this deity, and the invocation spoken by Lyfrassir in Red Signal draws from a story about this creature, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.

[thelargefrye]

GRIMOIRE: TALE OF TALES. DAY 13.

── summary. the circus is a mysterious place, don’t believe everything you see.

── roles. circus performers!ateez, circus performer!reader

── genres. circus, supernatural, established poly relationship

── word count. 4.3k

── warnings. cussing, slight harassment (nothing too serious, goes with the next warning), the word “freak” gets used, brief nudity (nonsexual), getting eaten alive, blood, some body gore at the very end

── main menu.

── message. the inspiration and dedication for this story goes to @seacottons​ so credit for some aspects of my story goes to them. their’s is way better than mine please go read it!

“now, i hoped you all enjoyed the show but unfortunately we have reached the end of the show,” the house lets out a chorus of disappointment making hongjoong laugh lightheartedly. “but do not be sad, for i have one last performance for you all,” he says, quickly getting the crowd to quiet down.

you stood off to the side near the entrance that all the performers had used to enter and exit, along with all the props that they had used. your sparkling blue one piece feeling scratchy on your skin and the fishnet tights are cutting into your thighs. no matter how many times you have performed, you still can’t help but feel nervous. thankfully, you feel a set of hands coming to rest on your shoulders.

“you look beautiful, my flower. blue is definitely your color,” san’s voice is deep sounding and his breath hits your ear as he speaks right into it. 

“you say that about every single color i wear,” you reply back teasingly, you’re glad san decided to come talk to you because you are starting to feel a little less nervous.

“because it’s true,” he says back and presses a kiss to your cheek, “break a leg, y/n.”

“ladies and gentlemen! i present to you… wonderland’s flower!” hongjoong announces and you make your way over to where hongjoong was. you allowed a smile to grace your face as the house clapped for you. there were a few loud wolf whistles that sounded throughout the tent, but you ignored them as it was common by now to hear them.

hongjoong holds a white gloved hand out to you which you happily take and you watch his eyes flash an inhumanly blue before it fades and he hands you the microphone. he kisses your own gloved hand before letting it go and stepping away before making his exit from the ring. 

the lights dimmed, letting a single light shine solely on you as the music began to play throughout the tent. 

it was whirring away in the distance the faint light i'm thinking of moving there like there is not

as if asking who you are when it blinks i have my eyes closed pray to meet you

you watch as the crowd’s eyes all begin to change. their excited expressions now turning tired as you continue to sing.

there, along the bright light we now two you came to me on the shining day a long pain even with darkness we gon' light up towards farther shining places we gonna shine-er

getting closer one step at a time the closer you go we have confidence it's the original one

you felt your lips twitch into a faint smile as you watch small balls of light start to form from everyone in the crowd and leave their bodies.

my shine light true light came with destiny looking at each other in the night sky starlight the moment i looked at each other the dark nights are falling we shine in it

“ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, i hope you had a wonderful time here in the promised wonderland,” you began saying. your voice echoing into the heads of those watching you, “but i’m afraid this will be our last show. please make sure to gather all belongings and parents make sure you don’t lose your kids. because once you leave this tent, you will forget everything you saw.” 

you began singing once again, skipping the verse that was supposed to come next due to you making your exit speech.

in this dream i met in a dream fantasy i do not want to stop this fantasy i dreamed i can not breathe here we let them in take a deep breath new dimensional trip

you sang the rest of the song without pausing and as soon as you stopped and the music faded, everyone got up at once and made their way out of the tent without a word. once the last person was out, the large curtains of the tent closed and that’s when you finally turned to exit the tent.

the workers were quick to start packing things onto the train and hongjoong’s booming voice only fueled them to go faster. props, animals, and equipment all loaded into their respective train cars. you rushed over to your own train car you shared with hongjoong and seonghwa, and was happy to see the eldest of the performers sitting at his small desk.

“seonghwa,” you earn his attention and he sends you a smile as you begin to take off your show outfit. “did i do a good job tonight?” you asked him, making him smile at you as he nods his head.

“of course you did. hongjoong is very proud of you, my flower. he’s very pleased with the souls you collected from tonight,” he tells you, his eyes following you intently as you move around the car in order to put on more comfortable clothing. 

you take this opportunity to look at him to find that he was still in his show outfit except with his jacket hanging over his chair and the first few buttons of his shirt were undone. 

“it’s not nice to stare, y/n,” he teases, making you flush a little as you look from him in order to button up your own shirt. well... it was actually yunho, but since his shirts are so silky and airy that you can’t help but to steal and wear them. 

you let out a small laugh as you feel a wave of tiredness wash over your form. performing into front of big audiences like that always did tire you out quickly. a bad side effect that happens when you hypnotize humans. you walk over to seonghwa before straddling his lap and the two of you look at each other with matching love-filled eyes before you wrap your arms around his neck and rest your head on his shoulder after kissing him.

“i forget that performing wears you out,” seonghwa says, although you felt it was more to himself than to you, so only let out a soft hm-mm in response. “go lay down on the bed, dear,” he says rubbing your back but you only whine.

“i want to rest here, in your lap and arms,” you say and seonghwa is quickly to allow you to do as you please before he continues going back to what he was doing before you entered. you close your eyes letting out a deep breath as you allow sleep to consume you.

hongjoong finally enters the car an hour later after making sure everything was loaded and everyone was where they were supposed to be. soon enough the train starts to move which causes him to move forward a little bit. he’s greeted by the sight of you sleeping soundly in seonghwa’s arms as he counts out the money they had earned for tonight’s show.

slipping his jacket off, hongjoong walks over and presses a kiss to the older man’s cheek before kissing the crown of your head. 

“tonight was a great show, yeah?” seonghwa spoke after several minutes of them sitting in silence. hongjoong was unbuttoning his shirt which slowly revealed his lean chest that seonghwa couldn’t help but admire. 

“it was,” hongjoong began, “the house was full of excitement which always makes for a good meal,” he adds and puts on a clean shirt and pants. he lays down on the bed, feeling tired from having to host the show and make everything went smoothly for everyone else. 

hongjoong was about to drift off to sleep himself before the door to the car slid open so loudly and harshly that it scared hongjoong and made him sit up, but also startled you awake making you cling onto seonghwa for comfort.

“wooyoung, what the hell is wrong with you!” seonghwa furrows his eyebrows as he turns to the acrobatic who is rushing into the car over to him and you.

“y/n! y/n! y/n! me and the others are gonna play pirates and we need you,” wooyoung was pulling on your arm in an attempt to get you to agree and stand up quicker.

“no way! i don’t like playing pirates with you, you always play unfairly,” you say ripping your arm away from him. the blond pouts at you before letting out an annoyed sigh.

“you can be with yunho and yeosang for this game,” wooyoung says, trying to get you to agree to come with him. he can see how you think about it for a second before moving off of seonghwa’s lap to stand up. wooyoung beams at you before grabbing your hand and dragging you with him out of the car and into the next one.

“why didn’t he ask us to play?” hongjoong asks after realizing that the younger male didn’t bother asking or acknowledging the eldest two.

“because i hate that game and you’re too competitive,” seonghwa says as he turns back to writing.

hongjoong huffs a little bit before speaking, “am not.”

“are too.” hongjoong only rolled his eyes before laying back to finally get some sleep.

when the train arrived in the next town a week later, mingi was quick to drag you and yunho off the train and into town in order to explore. you were a little sad he didn’t give you a chance to give jongho a goodbye kiss, but you had promised to spend more time with him when you returned.

walking through the new town, you couldn’t help smile and laugh at how happy mingi seemed to be. he always enjoyed exploring the towns you all stopped at, it was a great way to learn more about the world you all forced to be a part of. 

you were honestly glad mingi was always so excited to explore. finding his curiosity cute and the way his eyes sparkled when he learned something new always warmed your heart. you on the other hand weren’t really that interested in learning about the humans and their world. you were happy as long as you were with your lovers and not having to stay in one place for too long. 

“should we get some cookies for the others?” mingi’s question snaps you out of your thoughts and you turn to him with a nod. he smiles before quickly running to where the bakery was with you and yunho trailing behind him. 

“what were you thinking about?” yunho’s voice is quiet as he leans closer to your ear as you both wait outside for mingi. 

“how cute mingi is when we come to a new town,” you say and yunho laughs nodding agreement.

“i know. his face lights up and his smile is so big. it makes me want to protect him forever,” yunho says and you can’t help but agree with him as well.

the two of you watch as workers from the train start appearing around the streets in order to promote you all. you look to see the familiar large red and white tent peeking up over the tree line before turning back just as mingi exits the bakery, a bag of cookies in his hand.

“alright! let’s go back!” mingi cheers before the three of you go back to the train and the circus that was quickly being set up.

a few days later and it was time for another show. some people had showed up early in order to look around to see what else the circus had to offer and you and san walked around, arm in arm, to make sure everything was going well outside. 

the two of you were about to go back to the others to prepare before you noticed a group of guys crowding around one of the workers. 

“san…” you trail off tugging on his sleeve and pointing towards the worker. san glares before making his way over to see what was going on. you couldn’t help but follow after him, because the last thing you need was for him to cause unwanted trouble right before the show.

“what’s wrong with you freak?” one of the guys asked, pointing his index finger harshly into the worker’s shoulder. “does the freak not know how to talk?” he questions, making the other guys snicker.

“hey!” san calls out earning their attention, “can i help you guys with something?”

“huh? who are you, punk?”

“i’m one of the owners of this circus,” san said as he stopped walking and you stopped right behind him. you made eye contact with the worker and gestured for them to quickly leave which they did. 

you were glad that you saw what was going on before it took a turn for the worst. most of the workers didn’t know how to speak any of the human languages, so if they spoke then it would come out as an incoherent mess to human ears which would have further provoked these guys. once the worker was out of sight, you turned back to san and the guys only to make eye contact with one of them. the guy smirked at you, looking at you up and down which prompted you to roll your eyes at him.

“...and i would appreciate it if you didn’t bother my workers. if you need help, go to the help desk at the entrance, not someone who is trying to do their job. and i would also like for your friends to stop gawking at my lady,” san’s jaw is clenched at the sight of having these guys stare at you.

“why can’t i look at her? she’s probably just another unwanted freak, so there’s nothing wrong with looking,” the what you assumed to be the leader of the group says with his friends nodding in agreement. “that’s all you circus people are good for anyway.”

“you watch your fucking mouth,” san says, getting ready to charge at the guy but you hold him back. 

“san, they aren’t worth it. come on, we need to get ready,” you say, making san huff in anger as he pulls away from you and turns around, his hand coming out to guide you away from the unwanted and troublesome eyes. their laugh echoing through your skull the further you walk away. 

“i’m gonna kill those fucking humans,” san says as he practically rips his shirt off as he tries to take it off. some of his buttons fly off and roll around on the floor. you frown as you watch one roll underneath the bed. 

“san, it’s fine. don’t worry about them, after tonight we’ll never see them again and they even remember us,” you say sitting down on the bed, his outfit in your hands waiting to hand it off to him.

“you didn’t see how they were fucking you with their eyes. fucking humans, i hate them so damn much, it kills me. fuck!” he says, eyes burning red as he punches the wall next to him. 

“san! calm down!” you hiss, standing up, you can’t see them but you’re sure your eyes are also glowing a golden color. that’s what happens when you let your emotions overwhelm you. san glares at you before letting out an annoyed sigh as turns away from you. 

he takes his shirt off, tossing it to the side before undoing his pants and sliding them off, his underwear comes off soon after. you honestly never understood why he and wooyoung – you’re pretty sure yeosang does it too – preferred going commando, but you assumed it only felt comfortable or something. he turns around and neither of you say a word as you watch him slip into his outfit. his red, black, and silver leotard fitting him perfectly and he moves to put his shoes on and before he could leave, you quickly reach out and stop him. he looks at you as you push him down onto the bed before hovering over him. 

“don’t leave me upset,” you say looking at him, he watches as your eyes become rimmed in the golden color. his hand comes to card through your hair before he gently brings you down for your lips to meet his.

the two of you end up kissing until yunho comes in and startles the both of you with his loud voice. “come on san, go finish getting ready with wooyoung,” he says as you move to sit up so san can go get his makeup and hair done.

once san is gone, you notice yunho is halfway dressed. him not needing anything over the top as his ‘magic’ does all the extravagant work for him. he comes to sit down next to you and you immediately let your head rest on his shoulder.

“one of the workers told me and the others about those humans that were bothering them and how you and san handled the situation.”

“you mean the situation that almost caused san to rip them apart? then yeah sure, it was handled,” you say sarcastically making the male chuckle a little bit.

“i’ll make sure to keep an eye out,” he says before standing up and turns to look at you. his eyes immediately squint as he takes in what you’re wearing. “is that my shirt?” he asks and you look at him in surprise. 

you shake your head, “i don’t know what you’re talking about,” you say looking away from him, making him only laugh again.

“if you say so my flower,” he says, leaning down to kiss you before turning and leaving. you bid each other bye before he closes the door leaving you alone in the train car. 

you find yourself thinking for a few moments before you stand up and make your way out of the train car and over to the worker than was in charge of the music that would play during your performance. the worker immediately turned to you, sensing your form approaching them as they bowed slightly in greeting. 

“play number five today,” you told them and they nodded making the quick adjustments that were needed in order for the right track to play. you thank them and they bow slightly once more before you turn to leave in order to get ready. 

you once more hear the echoing of laughter as you walk towards your train car knowing that it would be the last time they laughed.

“you’re... you’re performing that song tonight?” yeosang’s voice snaps you out of your thoughts as you turn to look at him. he was already changed out of his outfit, having been one of the first ones to perform tonight, but his hair was still pulled back in a small ponytail that it is usually in whenever he performs. he likes his hair long, but the hassle of seeing while performing is the only downside he often says. “did those humans really piss you off that much? or is it because they made san upset?”

“i think you already know,” you answer, making him grin as he lets out a small hum. 

“now, i hoped you all enjoyed the show but unfortunately we have reached the end of the show,” the familiar words ring throughout the tent and the usual response from the house is heard. “but do not be sad, for i have one last performance for you all,” he says, and the house immediately goes quiet as he speaks. 

yeosang bids you good luck before quickly disappearing and you turn to see your dancers all lined up and statue-like. if you didn’t know what they were, you would have thought they were statues. they wore all black in contrast to your silver one, and black silk cloths covered their eyes… well to be honest they don’t have eyes so the cloth is a way to not expose the whole circus to the humans.

“ladies and gentlemen! i present to you… wonderland’s flower!” the crowd cheers as you take graceful steps into the ring in order to meet hongjoong. he looked at you the most beautiful thing to come from existence as he took in your appearance. the familiar and spine chilling blue rimming in his eyes and his smile grew as he saw yours sparkle with gold. 

hongjoong kisses your hand like he always does before turning to make his exit, the dancers passing him as the come to stand behind you.

the lights dim down greatly before they slowly change into a deep artificial blue color that drowns you and the ring in the color. your eyes scan the crowd before landing on the men from earlier who are undoubtedly looking at you like a piece of meat. you hear ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ as the music starts.

as the intro begins you remain in place, the dancers effortlessly dancing to music like it's the only thing they know how to do. the crowd watches in awe at how they move before they snap their attention to one, once you begin to sing. 

way that i move got the whole world watchin’ i’m in a mood and i don’t wanna hide it blue chills and white shivers i’m ice cold, baby on an ocean of glitter

you always did think the lyrics had an odd tone to it considering the only time you really only used this song.

it rains out of control these chains don’t have a hold on me don’t say, i’m a sinner i’m ice cold, baby on an ocean of glitter

you watch as the audience begins to lose the light to their eyes as they continue to watch and listen to you. your voice echoing and throbbing and crashing around in their heads, your eyes slowly turning gold as they stand out from the blue light. the only people in the audience that aren’t affected are the four men who slowly begin to notice the change in atmosphere in the house.

they watch in shock at how balls of light leave all the audience members and disappear to a place they can’t see from their seats. 

feelin’ the danger in every motion don’t be a stranger to your emotion truth hurts but lies wither i’m ice cold, baby on an ocean of glitter

“ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, i hope you had a wonderful time here in the promised wonderland,” you began saying. your voice echoing into the heads of those watching you. the four men beginning to slowly grow fearful of what was happening around them, “but i’m afraid this will be our last show. please make sure to gather all belongings and parents make sure you don’t lose your kids. because once you leave this tent, you will forget everything you saw. expect... you four,” you point to them and you watch their eyes go wide at how you pointed to them.

you near the end of the song and suddenly like always, the audience all get up silently and leave in a quiet fashion. the curtain closes behind the last of the audience and the four males can only watch in horror as they try their best to stand up and run away but it was useless.

“you four… better run for your life.”

you step onto the train car that you share with hongjoong and seonghwa a happy smile on your face as you walk over to your eldest lover and drape your arms over his shoulders from behind. seonghwa notices from the small desk mirror the blood on your face as you lick your lips, eyes full on gold making him smirk at your reflection.

“did you have fun?” he asks although he is sure he knows the answer. you nod as you straighten up and walk over to change your clothes. “it’s been a while since i heard that song,” he says as he hums the familiar tune while bobbing his head from side to side. you laugh at him finding this little action cute. “i forget how scary you can get whenever someone upsets one of us.” 

“of course, no one upsets my loves and gets away with it,” you tease with a smile. you smile absentmindedly as you sit on the bed thinking of the four males that had upset san earlier today. 

“it had been a while since the dancers ate, no?” seonghwa asks and you nod your head thinking of the eyeless statue humanoids that usually remain in one of the last few cars on the train. 

“they’ll eat good tonight,” you said as you twirled a piece of your hair just as hongjoong entered the car. he greeted seonghwa with a brief kiss before he began to change his clothes. you, however, were too lost in thought about what was going on in the last train car that you couldn’t help the sick looking smile and laugh that escaped past your lips.

“no! no! please no, god!” one of the males screamed as he watched as the eyeless creatures ripped apart his friends with their inhumanely sharpe teeth and equally as dangerous claws. one of the creatures snapped their head in his direction at the sounds of his cries. they stood up and made their way over to him in slow steps that made the guy coward in fear as he tried to scoot away from the monster that was nearing him. the creature let out a hissful-screech before lunging at the guy and ripping into his throat.

you continued to laugh and smile hysterically at the thought of the humans being ripped apart. the laughter no longer echoing in your mind, but instead screams and begs for mercy. 

[oathofpromises]

What are Kairi’s thoughts about her childhood on the Islands? Did she always feel out of place growing up if at all?

𝕶𝖆𝖎𝖗𝖎 𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖓𝖊𝖉 𝖆𝖌𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖘𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖕𝖆𝖕𝖔𝖚 𝖙𝖗𝖊𝖊, 𝖍𝖔𝖑𝖉𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖆 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖒 𝖎𝖓 𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖉. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖜𝖆𝖛𝖊𝖘 𝖈𝖗𝖆𝖘𝖍𝖊𝖉 𝖆𝖌𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖘𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖗𝖊, 𝖆𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖇𝖎𝖗𝖉𝖘 𝖋𝖑𝖔𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖐𝖞 𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖛𝖊.It was difficult to talk about her childhood because so much of it was hazy before the islands. The first memory she even has here is washing on the shore and waking up to see Sora and Riku standing over her. It was strange to see a girl just lying in the water. Even now, Kairi can hardly remember the events prior; all of that has been slowly resurfacing lately. It was hard to try and recall how she was treated by so many people here at first, but the young girl would try her best to explain. 

“I wouldn’t say I was an outcast, but at first a lot of the villagers treated me differently. It’s not exactly every day that a child washes on shore during a meteor shower. I didn’t know why some were distrustful of me. Maybe it was because I was someone, they had no idea who I was or why I ended up on the islands. It felt like a lot of the kids also kept their distance, most likely due to influence from their parents, but Sora and Riku didn’t.” Kairi paused, a soft smile on her face. It was hard not to when she remembered the two most important people in her life.

Reaching up, Kairi plucked a papou fruit off the tree, closing her eyes. It was a lot to explain, and some might even understand it fully after. There was a lot of emotions around that time and some were so blurry. The princess hated how often memories seemed to elude her or were so jumbled. It would take a lifetime to try and explain some parts of her life. At least Sora and Riku were always there for her from the start. They had no idea who she was or where she came from, but they were still so kind. Which made the girl feel worse for feeling like she had dragged the two of them down. They were normal kids just living a peaceful life, and one day she shows up and that changes everything. The two boys craved to escape from the islands, to see other worlds. Kairi landing there just proved it was entirely possible to traverse to different places. 

“They both welcomed me…let me hang out with them on the islands. Growing up around those two, you can imagine how quickly my personality opened. I was more talkative. They both allowed me to just be Kairi. Never looking at me like some science project. When I first noticed people giving me strange looks, it didn't take long for the younger me to realize they were attempting to judge who I was. Which to be fair, I was so little..I had no idea the type of person I was or would become. Even less after being sent away from Radiant Gardens. Yes, I learned that was my birthplace. I don’t remember much still, but my grandmother.. And the stories she used to tell me every day. I can’t lie and say that for a time I didn’t feel out of place, even around Sora and Riku there was a part of me that longed to see the world I was originally from. I might’ve acted like I didn’t mind back then, but it was a huge thing I struggled with internally. Despite calling Destiny Islands home..some people will never fully welcome me as one of the villagers. I would be seen as an outcast. The girl who fell from the stars. That was something that some people used to make fun of at first. The only way they knew how to explain such a rare thing.

It didn’t take long for me to warm up to Sora and Riku, to trust them. They both asked about where I came from, and at the time I couldn’t give them a solid answer. I simply couldn’t remember, at least that is what my heart was telling me. The memories of what happened the day I was sent away from Radiant Garden were too painful. After that, things seemed to work out better. I didn’t feel like an outsider. Even got to meet other kids like Wakka, TIdus and Selphie. Those three were some of the only kids that really reached out to me, too. I think they got more comfortable after seeing me hang out with Sora and RIku so much.The mayor took me in as their own daughter, but I still felt that distance. How I could tell they were distrustful of me, like most of the other islanders. They tried to be a good parent, but there were times I felt trapped.” 

Kairi sat the fruit down, jumping off the tree as she walked towards the secret place. Fingers tracing every drawing the three of them etched into the walls. This was their place, somewhere they felt happy and safe. It seemed so silly to some, but it was still a memory she clung to. The red head stopped in front of the familiar cave drawing. Bending down as her hand reached out to trace Sora’s face. Tears slowly fall down the sides of her face, as she fell to her knees. It was hard staying behind. Riku and Sora were both trapped in a world they had no idea what awaited them. 

They had given her so much, and yet again she was told it was best to stay behind. Kairi knew it was the right choice. There were things she needed to learn before the time was right, but didn’t mean it made it any easier. 

“They are my home..they made me happy to be here. I was lost and confused, not sure who to turn to. These two are my brightest lights.” 

[itiswritteninthestarsabove]

Hey there! I was tagged by @livinginsynth to answer some interesting questions. Thanks for tagging me and don’t hesitate to tag me again in the future! this was fun!

1. Why did you choose your url? It’s a verse from one of my favorite Depeche Mode songs, It’s No Good. I’m simply in love with it. In fact, a while ago my blog title was “I’ll be fine”, another verse from the song

2. Any side blogs? No, just this main blog where all my hyperfixations coexist lmao so I’m sorry for my followers

3. How long have you been on tumblr? Since 2012 and going strong!

4. Do you have a queue tag? No, but all my post are sent to the queue so my blog doesn’t get stagnant. All of them are sent to the queue, including this post hehe

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place? A school friend showed me her Tumblr blog and I thought ‘that’s neat, I want one too!’. Not a fascinating story, I know. Around that time I posted some aesthetic and LOTR stuff.

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp? It looks cute and leans into my blog’s title ‘little death faery here to sprinkle some light’, a quote from Meg Myers I love bc I relate so much. Besides, I like how cool it looks with the starry sky background/header. Running theme again with my URL: the stars, destiny, all that whimsical stuff

7. Why did you choose your header? Already answered in the question above! It is written in the stars above

8. What’s your post with the most notes? I’m not sure? When I first started I used to repost a lot of pics I found on the internet so maybe it’s a random aesthetic pic from that era. Nowadays the ones with more notes are the occasional pics of Dave Gahan I find in the depths of my computer haha

9. How many mutuals do you have? I tried to count them and gave up. They’re at least over 100 and I love them all <3

10. How many followers do you have? Up to this day I have 497 followers, tho I’m sure 2/3 of them are just porn bots lmao

11. How many people do you follow? 966 cool blogs!

12. Have you ever made a shitpost? I honestly can’t remember anything besides that eeby deeby Titanic post I made a while ago. Does that count? 

13. How often do you use tumblr each day? Not much, I tend to scroll through the dashboard just 5 minutes a day at best. Though I tend to check on my fave blogs to see if there's something interesting

14. Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog once? Who won? I stay away from trouble, I don’t have the time nor the energy to fight with a complete stranger on the internet!

15. How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts? If I really want to reblog the post, I’ll go to the blog that added that ‘you need to reblog this’ comment, see who they reblogged it from, and then reblog it from them, without that useless addition. But if I dont want to reblog something I’ll just not do it

16. Do you like tag games?  Yes! If the questions are good though. Like this one, so if any of you have a good tag game to share, don’t to tag me! :) 

17. Do you like ask games? They’re nice. I prefer tag games though!

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is [tumblr] famous? Oh, I really don’t know! Some of my mutuals might be tumblr superstars and I just don’t notice lol but what I know is that they should be! They post amazing content!

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual? Just as the person who tagged me said, yes, I have a crush on all of them! <3 You guys are cool af

20. Tags: @boys-say-go @blonderedhead @sailwiththedragonsatdawn @bottleliving @soundsofmyuniverse @annalyticall @fromdusks @death-in-tight-pants @ihavethememesplease @iwriteshakespeareanninsults @violation-for-the-masses and anyone who wants to do it!

[kateis-cakeis]

Her Sweet Kiss is certainly destroying me, that’s for damn sure

First off, I know people have done meta on this song but fuck it, I can’t just sit here and not do a meta where I slowly go insane over this song. I’ve been listening to it all day at work, so I have to get this off my chest..........

Okay! So! You know what hurts? The way Jaskier sings some of the lines through gritted teeth at the start. (I’ll put those lines in italics for fun).

Like what does this mean? What does any of this mean? What does the song mean? Why is there three fucking people in the song and why did I think it was about Geralt and Yennefer before a couple posts woke me up to the fucking truth?

Fucking Jaskier, fucking bard with his words and metaphors.

Why does Jaskier dress up the song as romantic when’s really fucking heartbreaking, what the fuck?

But her love’s as unfair as a crook It steals all my reason Commits every treason Of logic, with naught but a look

These lines are fun as ought! Her love is unfair as a crook? Because it makes him illogical, because it makes him jealous (that’s the treason there folks). I thinkkkkkk the last line means his logical is taken from him with only a look (a look from Yennefer , or from the love itself?).

The! worst! part! is! he’s an outsider in this song, looking in, watching and observing. And just being there, seeing it, takes away his logic. 

Of longing and heartache and lust

His longing and heartache, their lust. He’s the one breaking while Geralt and Yennefer do their thing. He says lust through that gritted kinda teeth way, that lust is what causes his heartache, he’s jealous, he’s breaking.

She’s always bad news It’s always lose, lose So tell me love, tell me love How is that just?

Jaskier... Oh my poor Jaskier. Bad news for who, hun? For you? For Geralt? For the both of you? The first line, the bad news one, adds more weight for Jaskier wanting to leave quickly once he sees Yennefer in the pub. That paired with it always being lose lose, suggests Geralt meeting up with Yennefer is as bad for him as it is for Jaskier. Because Geralt has to deal with Yennefer leaving and Jaskier has to deal with that... heartache he mentioned above.

And because it’s lose lose, Jaskier asking his love how that’s just? That Geralt comes out of it as badly as Jaskier does. Why must they be hurt? 

But the story is this She’ll destroy with her sweet kiss Her sweet kiss

The story, as it turns out, is quite awfully short. It’s one line. The story is: she destroys with her sweet kiss. Destroys Jaskier with jealously, heart ache and break. Destroys Geralt by coming and going. And Jaskier is there, seeing it, willingly being destroyed as the later lyrics suggest. 

The way he sings here, it isn’t bitter, just truthful... It’s soft and sad because he thinks he knows his fate is just to watch her destroy them both with her sweet kiss, as Jaskier so gently puts it.

The red sky at dawn is giving a warning, you fool Better stay out of sight

Red sky at morning, shepherds take warning. I know Jaskier says dawn but it’s the same fucking thing. He’s just made it more eloquent. He’s calling Geralt a fool for not heeding the warning, for not staying out of sight. Jaskier is very clearly irked by Yennefer, he doesn’t seem to like her (the jealously) so he sees her as a warning, to stay out of sight once he sees her. Like.... say.... at the pub... when he tries to leave with Geralt.

I’m weak my love, and I am wanting If this is the path I must trudge I welcome my sentence Give to you my penance Garrotter, jury and judge

And now!!!!! To the main course! People have mentioned his voice breaking on ‘weak’ but fuck, the way it does, it kills! He’s weak! He’s telling Geralt he’s weak! He’s wanting! But he’s also telling him, despite that, he knows if this is the way it’s gonna go, with Geralt and Yennefer loving each other, while he watches, still travelling with Geralt for much more than the adventure now, he welcomes that sentence. He’s brought it upon himself he admits, as he gives Geralt his penance, staying with him in this way is his punishment (maybe for loving him in the first place?).

And then, you know, the last line in that verse, which is essentially: Geralt, jury and judge. He knows Geralt has judged, doesn’t want to see him as a friend, and yet he stays at his side, there in every cruel moment of destiny. 

And since he composed that line at the beginning of episode 6, that means he knew he was judged and found as guilt before the end, when Geralt says the worst things of all to him. So Jaskier, heartbroken and tired, rips away the word ‘lovely’ or ‘gorgeous’ and leaves it at garrotter, because he’s done.

And then he repeats the chorus a couple times, because, you know, he has to emphasise that it was the sweet kiss that did it. Because that’s it, that’s all the story anyone needs to know from Jaskier’s pov. 

And it hurts. 

[oathofpromises]

Kairi smiled gentle at the young Sora as she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. The red haired girl nodded as she led him towards the Gummi ship.

She raised her a finger to her lips while looking at hm.

“Normally, I’m not suppose to just freely take people to places but this time is a special moment. The place we’re going is actually my birth home. It has so many flowers there.”

oathofpromises​:

Kairi tilted her head as she looked at the flower. It looked similar to some she had seen at Radiant Garden. The girl held out her hand to him.

“Hey Sora, what would you say if I could show you these kind of flowers and we can even make flower crowns. I had a friend teach me how to make them.”

The little one’s eyes widened, an excited gasp sounding as he bounced on his feet. “Really?? You would take me somewhere like that??” He was quick to grab the offered hand, his smile wide. “Let’s go!! Please!!”