#seven capital cities of heaven

[earth-1218designate]

Hulk, but with the Iron Fist? The strongest there is, at his most serene?

Awww shit, these Avengers were fucked six ways to Sunday the moment I saw Hulk's fist glow :

*I can really go for some tea now

** Love how every attack was measured by one "Hiroshima". These Avengers withstood an annihilation force multiplied !

*The Winsome Wasp !!!

*America never looked more beautiful.

*Immortal Instruments doing joshi moves? i can dig it.

[hazbininlove]

Hopelessly Devoted

Chapter 1

-About 5k of worldbuilding and angst

There’s an angel in Heaven few know of. Some wonder if she purposely let herself be forgotten, and others know that her isolation isn’t entirely her own fault.

Heaven’s structure wasn’t as simple as Hell’s mainly due to the fact that there were so many roles to play. Not every Archangel and or Virtue was a Seraphim. Seraphim has always been the highest rank, but even amongst themselves there was another ranking system not many knew of, and even they had other angels that outranked them due solely to the Divine’s words. Everyone had their own task, some, the Archangels, were given their tasks directly from the Divine.

The Seven, as they were called, were the Capital Virtues, angels with the rank of Archangel, dedicated undoubtedly to the Divine’s will. As extensions of the Divine, they were rarely seen within any city of Heaven besides possibly the Primum Mobile, where the Divine resided. Few winners were allowed there because only Virtuous Souls could enter those gates. While there were many virtues, the Seven were the ones to look towards to enforce the Divine’s will both in Heaven, and on Earth.

And within that Primum Mobile, the Heaven of the Angels, resides a Seraphim with the rank of Archangel, not a virtue but an angel nearly as old. She’s been around since before the Earth’s creation, long before the Garden of Eden.

She remained there in the Primum Mobile, kept within the walls of the palace, free to leave but knowing it was best to stay. Michael looked upon her, saddened by her melancholy that has not left her for thousands of years. She sat within the library, her black hair falling down her back in gentle waves as wisps of hair fell towards her midnight blue eyes. The two streaks of white weaves through her hair on either side of her. Her lips were set in a straight line, the blue circular marks on the corner of her mouth a stark contrast to the gray of her skin. She flipped the page of her book as he approached, and when she sensed him, she looked up to him with a soft smile on her face.

“Michael, always a pleasure,” she says, and though her tone is welcoming, Michael can still see the pain within her eyes when she looks at him. It breaks his heart knowing exactly why it’s there, but he feels no regret for following the task that the Divine gave him. He knows she understands this, but he also knows that it does nothing to ease her suffering, and nothing has for eons.

“Esther, my dear, when was the last time you left these walls?”

She looks away from him and back to her book, her fingers absently toying with the pages. “I sat in the Garden with Ramiel a few days ago.”

He sighs, knowing that it likely took weeks just to get her to do that much.

“You aren’t confined here, not anymore, and you know that. I know we… I made the mistake of keeping you here long ago as a precaution but that was centuries ago now. You are free to roam the cities as you once did, to roam Earth should you choose to! It pains us to see you like this,” he says, reaching forward to tuck some of her hair behind her ear. His hand slides down her cheek towards her chin to lift her face and see her eyes. “We miss our Eveningstar.”

“I am the Seraph and Archangel of balance, and yet I feel none,” she whispers to him, and his heart breaks for her. “I understand why I was kept here, you know I’ve never questioned the Divine’s words, but it does nothing to fill the emptiness I feel. A half of me is gone, Michael, and I’ll never get him back. Your Eveningstar is here, but my Morningstar is forever out of reach.”

His hand moves back to her cheek, and her eyes flutter closed and she leans into his touch.

“If I gave you a task, one that forced you out of these walls, would you follow it?” He asks her gently.

“A task from you means a task sent from the Divine. Of course I will follow it,” she replies, her voice a bit louder now, with a hint of playfulness. He knows she isn’t happy about it, but as she said, she will follow if that is what the Divine asks of her.

“Gabriel gave me the message, as he thought it was best that I give it to you. There is apparently a meeting today for the Head Council of the first Sphere, one that Sera seemed to not notify us of. The Divine knows, of course, but wouldn’t speak more of it. All Gabriel said was that you were to go to this meeting, assess what Sera is keeping from us, and report back.”

Michael didn’t care much for Sera. She was nice enough, and her devotion was clear, but there was something about her that reminded him a bit of his brother. She wasn’t a dreamer, and she knew when to keep her head down and voice quiet, but she also looked too calculating and too ambitious.

“It sounds like you are keeping something from me as well,” Esther replies, looking at him through narrowed eyes.

He was keeping something from her. He knows it’s best to tell her now instead of letting her be surprised later, but there’s no easy way to say it. “Gabriel has reason to believe that the request for the meeting came from Hell.”

He watches her eyes widen a bit, her jaw falling just slightly as she leans away from his hand. He tries to follow, to keep her grounded, but she leans closer to him now. “If the meeting came from Hell, that can only mean that he requested it.”

“Yes.”

Her breath stutters, and he can see her visibly shaken. “Thousands of years kept here to ensure I don’t see him and all of a sudden, I’m asked to go see him? Michael, what is going on?”

“I don’t know,” he responds, truthful in his answers. He won’t lie to her, he can’t, but he wishes that he could. “If it was up to me, I’d go myself, but Gabriel said that the task was given only to you. I don’t know if it will be him, or Lilith, or… or their daughter. All Gabriel was able to say was that it has something to do with Hell.”

He hates having to be the one to remind her that the Morningstar moved on and had a child. He remembers the day that Gabriel delivered the news. He’d watched as she’d stretched her wings before curling the highest pair over her eyes as she turned and walked away from them, hiding herself deeper into the palace. They hadn’t seen a single tear fall, but Michael still recalls the small broken sound she’d made before hiding away from the rest of them.

He watches again now as her wings settle behind her with a flurry of silver dust, and she stands from her seat. The wings closest to her head, just as before, curl around her, concealing her face from view once more. Her lowest pair curls around her legs, still giving her room to walk but still wrapped like a comforting embrace. The middle pair don’t wrap around her, but they remain limp behind her as if there wasn’t a single bone in them.

“When is the meeting?” She asks him quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. He wants to reach out and comfort her, but she’s already moving towards the door.

“Tomorrow,” he replies. He watches her pause at the doorway for a moment before she turns slightly towards him. Her face is still hidden from him but she gives him a small bow of her head in acknowledgment before walking away.

He has a terrible feeling about this, but he can’t do anything about it. All he can do is trust the Divine as he too leaves the library, letting his own pair of wings come out as he flies back to where he’d last seen Gabriel.

——————————

Charlie recalls being in Heaven and seeing an angel with dark hair and midnight blue eyes. Her skin was gray, just slightly darker than Vaggie’s, and her cheeks had blue circles on them, much like her own and her father’s red cheek marks. She could tell the woman was a high ranking angel, based on the six wigs like her father’s though hers were blue on the inside where he father’s were a deep red. She was beautiful, just as all the other angels there, but there was something about her that felt familiar.

What really got Charlie had been the angel’s eyes. She smiled at those who greeted her, keeping her expression kind and welcoming, but her smile never reached her eyes. It almost looked like she wasn’t truly seeing the people she was speaking to, a far away look in her eyes. She kept her interactions to a minimum.

When Charlie had asked Emily about her, she watched the Seraphim of Joy’s eyes widen happily before abruptly tensing and looking nervous. She looked between Charlie and the other angel with fidgeting hands and cleared her throat.

“That’s Esther…. She’s the Eveningstar,” Emily had said.

Charlie remembers tensing as well, looking back to where she was walking in a new direction. She’s wanted to approach Esther, to say something, but she kept herself rooted in her spot. What could she even say? Hi, I’m Charlie Morningstar, you know the daughter your other half had with someone else!

And how stupid would that sound? Did Esther even know of Charlie’s existence? Did she know that Charlie was even there?

And then she saw her in the meeting. Even Sera had seemed surprised to see her, but Esther kept her gaze on Charlie the whole time. Charlie’s heart nearly broke seeing that far away look in your eyes clear for a moment, likely seeing her resemblance to her father. Esther’s smile never faltered, but there was definitely a sadder quality to it.

Sera seemed to want to continue speaking to her, but she’d excused herself and flew to a higher viewing point beside Emily. Sera looked frustrated, but hadn’t said more, just flew to join them on the podium.

And then that disastrous meeting had happened. Esther had seemed as receptive as Emily, until the moment Adam slipped and mentioned the exterminations. Esther’s eyes had widened, she hadn’t said much, but Charlie could see the glow around her increasing in size and the anger in her expression.

She’d been flung back to hell before she could hear how that ended.

And now, just days since her hotel was rebuilt after the destruction Adam caused, she hadn’t expected to see a portal open in the sky just outside her hotel and Esther come flying down.

The portal had alerted all of them. They rushed to get weapons ready, her dad already had his wings out and ready until they saw who it was. The others kept their weapons up, but Charlie dropped her weapon in surprise and watched as her dad’s wings drooped and his eyes widened in shock.

Esther looked as beautiful as she did the last time Charlie saw her. Her black hair fell around her face and down just past her shoulders in waves. She still had that same sad, soft smile on her face, though her eyes looked more present. Her wings, just as large and radiant as her father’s, fluttered gently around her to keep her afloat.

Charlie watches as Esther looks to her dad briefly before focusing her attention back to herself. She could feel her dad’s confused gaze as Esther approached her, her smile dropping to a frown as she spoke.

“I apologize that I couldn’t be here soon and stop them. Things in Heaven have been… hectic, to say the least. But I wanted to let you know in person that I’ve been doing everything I can to make sure these exterminations never happen again,” Esther said. Her voice is melodic, but soft and almost airy. It felt so different from her father’s richer tone of voice. She sounded and looked so apologetic as she spoke, and based on her reaction back in the meeting, Charlie didn’t doubt that she truly was. “Sera did a great job of keeping her secrets, but the other Seraphim have been made aware, including the Seven, have been made aware now, and they won’t allow for further oversight.”

Charlie cheers with her friends, all excited about the news that there would be no further exterminations, but she could see her dad’s uncertain expression.

“You expect me to believe that the others, that Michael, are just going to leave us alone?” Lucifer asks, his tone doubtful.

Charlie watches as Esther’s wings rattle, the feathers ruffling just slightly, and her eyes close. She takes a deep breath before she turns to Lucifer with a sad expression, her frown deepening. “We haven’t seen each other in eons, and that is the first thing you say to me, Morningstar?”

Lucifer tenses further, pulled tight like a band ready to snap. He looks properly scolded in a way Charlie hasn’t seen anyone besides herself or her mother be capable of.

“It’s uh…it’s been a while? How’ve you been, Eveningstar? You don’t look like you’ve aged a day past a thousand!”

Oh, he’s nervous. Her dad only rambled like that when he was nervous. It’d be a bit funny, if it wasn’t so awkward and a little sad to see him so anxious when confronted by the person who might as well be his soulmate. He was trying to look anywhere but at her, his hands moving sporadically as he fixed his collar, patted down his sleeves, or adjusted his hat.

Her wings curl around her, the top most moving to shield her face, but she doesn’t completely hide it from view. Her dad doesn’t see her expression, still caught up in trying to force his attention anywhere else, but he sees her wings shift, and by the time he looks back, Esther has focused back on Charlie.

“Azrael may come down, as the angel of death, he’s the most upset by this, but Michael is more upset by Sera’s lies than anything else. Unless it is something that directly affects the Divine and Heaven’s safety, he’ll stay in his place. As of now, your actions are seen as a necessary sign of self defense, and that is something even Michael can acknowledge. Unless you plan to directly attack Heaven, Michael has no need to act.”

It’s a relief, and it’s clear on her face because Esther’s smile grows a bit more warm, and a bit more genuine. And just as quickly as it was there, her smile fell again when her dad mumbled “He sure didn’t hesitate to act when I gave Eve the apple.”

“Well luckily self-defense and allowing evil into the world seem to be offenses on opposite sides of the spectrum,” Esther replied, glaring down at him. She wasn’t as tall as Charlie, but she was taller than Vaggie and her dad. Her dad grumbles a bit but doesn’t say anything else, thankfully.

Esther quickly looks to Charlie once more, her smile now a bit sharper due to her annoyance with Lucifer, but kind all the same.

“Wait a sec,” Angel Dust interrupts, stepping forward. “What the actual fuck is going on? We’re just going to ignore the fact that these two know each other?” he asks, pointing between Lucifer and Esther. “And Eveningstar? Morningstar? Hello?!”

“Angel, for once, consider shutting the fuck up,” Vaggie says, groaning as she looks over at the taller sinner.

“What?” Angel whines back. “You can’t expect me to not be surprised when meeting an angel older than Earth who isn’t trying to kill me!””

“I suppose I should introduce myself. I apologize for not doing so earlier,” Esther said, turning to the larger group. “My name is Esther Eveningstar, the Archangel of balance. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

“So are you two related or some shit?” Husk asks, just as confused as the rest. Lucifer looks disgusted at the thought, and Esther looks horrified.

“Oh Heavens, no!” Her wings fluttered a bit, and Charlie couldn’t help but be impressed how expressive she was with her wings. “We were um… well…”

“We are a pair,” Lucifer interrupts, looking distraught and completely hurt by her struggle to put their relationship into words. “We’re the original pair.”

Esther looks sad, eyes downcast and her hands fidgeting with the skirt of her dress. “Yes, a pair. We were named the sphere we were created for, Venus, the Morning and Evening Star, the closest to Earth, the first and last seen as the Sun rises and falls. I was created after Lucifer, as a companion… a pair. An even balance.”

“And yet, you spent more time apart than together! How interesting,” Alastor adds. Esther visibly deflates at this, and Lucifer’s teeth grit as his sclera briefly shifts to red.

“Yes, well, things happen, of course! I mean, given the universe's track record I think it’s fair to say that forcing a pair is never for the best. I mean, when has it ever worked, right?” she replies, an awkward chuckle as she continues to stretch the fabric of her dress.

“Hold on now,” Lucifer says, taking a step towards her. She seems to lean towards him, giving herself just that one moment, before she flinches and takes a step back. Lucifer pauses too, unsure of what to do. His voice grows softer, much more gentle now than the awkward banter of earlier. “We worked. We work! We definitely work. I mean, they were based on us!”

“And they separated rather quickly, didn’t they?” Esther asked back, knowing exactly what he was talking about. “Then the next wanted more, and you wanted someone else. How many pairs were made after that?”

The Story of Hell, Charlie realizes quickly. They’re talking about Adam and Lilith being a failed pair, followed by Eve’s temptation for more knowledge despite being created specifically for Adam from a piece of Adam’s own body. And the fall, wanting someone else; Esther didn’t have the book. She didn’t know Lucifer’s and Lilith’s side. To her, Lucifer had abandoned her for someone else, for Lilith.

“No, Esther, no, please, you can’t honestly tell me that you believe that. You know I didn’t leave you for someone else. You know, I never meant to let evil in, or to fall, or- or any of it! Please, Es, you have to know that,” Lucifer pleads with her.

And Charlie sees the exact moment, when her dad reaches out to touch her, that Esther sees her dad’s hand, shifts her eyes to look directly at Charlie, and looks back at Lucifer with a look that looks so much like defeat and acceptance that it nearly makes Charlie feel sick.

Vaggie’s hand squeezes her own, and Charlie knows she saw it too. The worst part is, she knows Esther isn’t blaming her, isn’t putting any fault on her, but part of her feels like she is the problem here. If she hadn’t been born, would this whole situation have been different? Would their reunion have been more pleasant, or heartfelt?

“I know you didn’t mean for evil to find its way to Earth, or for Hell’s creation,” Esther says back, just as gentle as Lucifer’s when he spoke, and just as broken. It doesn’t escape any of them that she said nothing about being left for someone else, because at the end of the day, Lucifer may not have fallen in love with anyone else, but that didn’t mean he remained entirely faithful either. And while it seemed that he had moved on, likely the way so many in Heaven believed, she had not. And Charlie couldn’t blame her. The majority of Hell’s residents, he’ll born and sinner alike, didn’t even know her part in the story. Most books erased her part entirely and made her parent’s story one of love. Her parent’s never even married.

Esther takes a step away from them, away from Lucifer, and she pretends she doesn’t see his heart break as he looks at her with eyes overflowing with pain.

Instead, Charlie watches as Esther’s attention is focused back on her once more. “Gabriel also wanted me to mention that your hotel works, and the Divine would be pleased to see you continue with this plan of yours. Sinner has arrived at the first Sphere, a being by the name of Sir Pentious, I believe Emily said.”

“What?” Charlie gasps, shock taking over. Beside her, Vaggie has let go of her hand to grab her shoulders, shaking her a bit. “It- It worked?! Sir Pentious is alive?!”

Esther smiles at her and takes her hands, bringing them together. “He is doing well, as far as the reports say. Emily has tasked herself with taking care of him.”

It doesn’t take long for Charlie to start sobbing. Esther looks flustered, unsure of what to do, but Vaggie brings her closer into a hug and Esther’s hands drop from hers.

“You hear that, Vaggie? We did it! Sir Pentious is in Heaven now,” she says between sobs, grabbing at the back of Vaggie’s shirt. She feels Vaggie patting her hair, shushing her a bit to try and calm her.

”Holy shit, it actually works! Well damn, guess it’s time to get serious, huh?” Angel remarks from the side. Vaggie gives him a glare, likely at the implication that he hadn’t been taking them seriously before, and his second set of arms raise in defense.

“So the big fella upstairs isn’t about to smite us or something?” Husk asks, pushing Angel out of the way.

”Of course not! The Divine is always just in punishment and forgiveness. Human souls are the Divine’s children just as the angels. All are worthy of forgiveness should they seek it and work virtuously towards it. Forgiveness is not easy to obtain, but it is worth the effort,” Esther explains to them.

“But, why now? Why didn’t any of this come up before the Exterminations were started?” Vaggie asks.

Esther shakes her head. “It is not my place to question the Divine. Rarely are we given clear answers, usually just a push in the direction that leads us where we need to go. I must keep my belief that everything happens for a reason the Divine chooses. Every task we are given is from the Divine, and we follow it without question.”

”So he probably knew of the extermination and knew that Sera chick was keeping secrets this whole time, and just let it happen?” Angel adds. Esther visibly winces.

”It sounds terrible, I know. None of us are happy about it. But again, we have to trust there is a reason for all of this. There is a reason that now is the time to put an end to it. I believe it’s because of you, Charlie,” she says, smiling towards her.

”Me?”

Esther chuckles at her incredulous reply. “You may be hellborn but… you are the daughter of an angel. You’re a demon, yes, but you’re also technically a Nephilim.”

”What’s a Nephilim?” Nifty asks, having climbed up onto Alastor’s shoulders. Esther smiles up at her.

“A Nephilim is a child born of an angel and a human.” She looks back at Charlie now. “You’ve certainly got an interesting mix in you; a Seraphim, a Human, and a Demon all combined. Not only that, but the first of each kind! I believe if anyone would be capable of bringing upon redemption for the souls of sinners, it would be someone capable of understanding both sides.”

She laughs a bit at the awestruck looks they are shifting between her and Charlie. She didn’t think it would be that surprising, considering it’s no secret that Lucifer was not only a Seraphim, but a Archangel and Virtue himself, but it seems Lucifer didn’t mention much about Heaven to her.

“I will be returning every so often, to check on your progress as well as keep you up to date on the status of Heaven. As I mentioned before, Sera will be punished for her actions. How the Divine chooses to do so has yet to be seen, but Gabriel and Michael will likely be the ones to deal with that. Now,” she says, her tone lowering slightly as she turns back to Lucifer, expression once again tense. “Samael, a word in private, please?”

She bows slightly to the group before turning and walking away. Charlie looks around in confusion as to who Samael was, if another angel had been with her, when see’s her dad’s shoulders raise and back straighten. He shifts slightly on his feet before trudging behind her, dragging his feet the whole time.

”Am I missing something else? Who the fuck is Samael?” Angel asks.

”It’s Lucifer,” Vaggie replies. Even Charlie looks at her, confused. “I thought you guys knew this? You know how before you got to hell, you thought Lucifer and Satan were the same person? It’s kinda like that. His name is Lucifer, always has been, but every Archangel, every Virtue, has a name in reference to God. His name was Samael. And like most of the high ranking angels, he had a lot of roles.”

”How do you know all this?” Charlie asks. “And what were his roles? The Story of Hell doesn’t mention any of that.”

Vaggie shrugs. “Heaven’s got a lot of books, and I had a lot of time. Plus, your dad doesn’t like to talk about Heaven, so I’m not surprised he made sure it wasn’t in the book. He was known as a lot of things; an angel of music who led the choirs in God’s name, the Virtue of Humility, and an angel of death, created to destroy sin.”

”You expect me to believe the first sin, the sin of Pride, the one that created this damned place, was a Virtue?” Husk asks. He looks irritated, and Vaggie’s expression matches his.

”He was one of the original Capital Virtues, one of the Seven. But every Virtue has a Vice and Lucifer fell to his. He hated sin, but he also wasn’t against it. It’s why he was called a dreamer. He wanted people to have free will, because he wanted people to be able to choose between right and wrong, and hoped that if humans were created to be as good as God said, they wouldn’t choose wrong.”

”But they did,” Charlie replies, voice just above a whisper. Vaggie nods at her interruption.

“I think it’s why he allowed the exterminations in the first place. He allowed for free will, allowed the possibility of sin, but he never meant for evil to come with it, or hell to be created. So he allowed sinners to be killed, because that was one of his tasks as an angel of death, to destroy sin.”

”But he’s now the Sin of Pride, he may hate it, but he’ll never say that he was wrong. And he wasn’t! People should have the chance to choose for themselves! He should take pride in that,” Charlie says, wanting to defend her dad. From who, she isn’t sure, maybe the universe at this point. None of this felt fair. It felt like he was doomed from the start.

��I know, sweetheart. I’m just saying, there’s a lot more to the story than just Hell’s side of things,” Vaggie replies, patting her arm. “So yeah, Lucifer is the name he was given as a Seraphim based on his Sphere, but Samael is the name he was given based on his role as an Archangel and Virtue.”

”Why does this sound like it’s gonna turn into a whole lesson. I thought I had enough school time when I was alive, don’t tell me I gotta deal with this shit in death too. And you angels keep talkin’ about Spheres! The fuck is that supposed to be?” Angel whines. Husk elbows him in the hip and he whines more, swatting at his arm.

”The same way Hell has it’s seven rings, Heaven has it’s seven spheres. It’s… a lot, honestly, and I think we can save the Heaven History lessons for another day, because there’s a lot to get into and I think we’ve all had enough for the day.”

”Quite so,” Alastor says. “How about we all head back into the hotel and let our King handle the rest. I’m sure he’ll tell us if there’s anything else of importance we need to know.”

Nifty hops off of him and starts walking back to the hotel without question, giggling to herself about all the bugs she’s sure to catch now that she’s given them a chance to roam. Husk and Angel shrug and follow, most likely already planning to sit at the bar and drink themselves under the table after all the revelations they’ve had today.

Charlie looks to where her dad and Esther are still talking, neither of them really looking at the other, but both still somehow almost leaning towards each other.

”They’ll be okay, Charlie,” Vaggie says, taking her hand once more. “Unconditional, remember?”

”Yeah,” Charlie replies, looking down at her girlfriend with a small smile. “I just hope that’s enough for them.”

——————————————————

Oh boy this took me a while to figure out how to write.

To make it clear, Esther and Lucifer were never married, but they were in a romantic relationship, which is why Esther believes Lucifer did cheat on her and believes part of the reason he and Lilith did what they did and fell is because of that.

The worldbuilding is mostly about Heaven. Since we don’t see much of it in the show, there’s a lot to speculate on. The same way the show sort of reference’s Dante’s rings of hell, I’m also going to base Heaven loosely on Dante’s spheres of paradise.

Also! I drew a picture of how I see Esther in my style, as well as a little doodle of how I’d draw Lucifer in my own style (yes, I gave him a little nose). The same way Lucifer has a lighter streak in his hair, I wanted Esther to have something similar, but ended up with just two streaks of white on both sides of her hair. I tried a couple different hairstyles and outfits on her before I settled on this one (though part of me is debating if I want her to eventually cut her hair. I haven’t decided yet).

[himboblackdragon]

Catalog of LBFaD drama name origins

Mythology -> book -> drama

Dongfang Qingcang / 东方青苍: The origins of this name are hotly contested, and to be honest the only hypothesis I remember is the Azure Dragon of the East. East being "Dongfang," and the dragon itself being alternatively called "Qing long" and "Cang long." (x)

Haotian Tower / 昊天塔: The tower where DFQC was imprisoned in, in both media. There's no Haotian Tower in mythology, but "Haotian God" is one of the names of the emperor of heaven. (x)

Ninth You / Jiuyou / 九幽: One name for the mythological netherworld, the capital city of the Moon Tribe in the drama. The capital city of the devil tribe in the book. (x)

Sansheng / 三生: The name comes from the "Three Lives Stone" (sansheng shi 三生石), which represents a lot of things in Chinese tradition, but probably the most salient being a rock in the underworld near the Oblivion River. In the novel universe, the rock is graffitied with the names of the ones the dead passing by wished to see most. The stone seems to have transformed into human form in the first book of the series, succinctly titled Sansheng, which tells the love story between Sansheng and Moxi, the novelverse God of War. (x)

Siming / 司命: A folk god, and usually male, who oversees human fates. In the CLJ novel she is responsible for writing the Fate Books. (x)

Xirang / 息壤: Mythological self-expanding-and-growing soil. Although it plays a key role in the book, it only appears in a throwaway line in the drama, when Changheng suggests building XLH a new body out of it. (x)

Mythology/literature/history -> drama

Chengying Sword / 承影剑: One of the ten famous swords of China, in historical and literary tradition. From the Spring and Autumn Period. (x)

Chonghua / 重华: Chonghua is the given name of a legendary emperor of China. (x)

Haotian Matrix / 昊天阵: "Haotian God" is one of the names of the emperor of heaven. (x)

Hellfire / 业火: A Buddhist concept, the fires of karma. (I'm pretty vague on what it actually is and where it exists.) In the book, DFQC's powerful fire is usually just called "raging flames" (lieyan 烈焰), and it's red instead of blue. (x)

Liyuan / 澧沅: Li and Yuan are two of the four big rivers that flow through Hunan. Coincidentally, also the names of two of the four rivers that flow into Shuiyuntian, that flooded when DFQC broke the pearl. (x)

Love Tree / Seven-Emotions Tree / 七情树: The name "seven-emotions tree" comes from the phrase "seven emotions and six desires," (qi qing liu yu 七情六欲). The exact emotions and desires this refers to differ based on school of thought. (x)

Lord Dong / 东君: A deity often paired with Yunzhong-jun as one of the two primordial gods. Seems to be a sun deity. His name literally means "Lord East." (x)

Lord Yunzhong / 云中君: A god from mythology, often paired with Lord Dong as one of the two primordial gods. Sometimes interpreted as a woman. (x)

Oblivion River / Wang Chuan / 忘川: A river in the land of the dead. To cross it, you must first drink a soup that makes you forget your past lives. (x)

Qu Shui / 曲水: Literally "winding waters," the name of Xiao Run's pageboy might come from the upper-class drinking game "Qu Shui Liu Shang" 曲水流觞, in which players "wait by a winding stream and compose poems before their cups full of rice wine float down to reach them." His nickname Ququ'r is phonetically very similar and means cricket. (x x)

Return to Ruin Realm / Guixu Zhi Jing / 归墟之境: "Guixu" was a place far to the east, that every body of water eventually emptied into. The characters break down into "return (to)" and "ruins." The "Zhi Jing" makes it "Region of Guixu" or "Guixu Area." (x)

Tai Sui / 太岁: A folk deity, but not necessarily evil. (x)

Xuanwu God / 古神灵玄武: Xuanwu is a constellation representing a tortoise-snake spirit. (x)

Xunfeng / 巽风: His name most likely comes from the "xun" trigram of the Eight Trigrams, of which the element is wind, or "feng." (x)

Yingzhao / 英招: Legendary creature that has the body of a horse, the face of a man, stripes like a tiger, and wings of a bird. Not like our waddling ball of fur at all. (x)

Yunmeng Lake / 云梦泽: One of the largest lakes in China in ancient times, now mostly nonexistent. (x)

Book -> drama

Bone Orchid / Gu Lan / 骨兰: It has more of a dried-vine aesthetic in the book.

Chidi Nüzi / 赤地女子: The god of war of the heavenly realm, in both media. DFQC's nemesis and the object of A'Hao's obsession.

Dayu Battalion / 大庾兵: Only mentioned once in the drama, along with the Tieyu Battalion 铁羽兵, as forces that Shangque has mobilized in response to Xunfeng's insurrection. Dayu's the name of DFQC's adorable (to me) pet sky/sea serpent.

Destruction of Heaven / Ruins of Ten Thousand Heavens / Wan Tian Zhi Xu / 万天之墟: A formless place where Siming can be found, in both the drama and the book. The book series further specifies that the Destruction of Heaven sits above the Three Realms and the Endless Desolate City (无极慌城 wu ji huang cheng) below.

Dieyi / 蝶衣: Ronghao's loyal right-hand woman is also present in the book.

Fairy Execution Platform / Zhu Xian Tai / 诛仙台: Where Changheng is to be executed after talking back to Yunzhong. In the book this was a platform over a mass of the book equivalent to evil qi/suiqi, which XLH was cast off from, almost getting eaten alive by the evil qi.

Fate Books / Mingbu / 命簿: The combination of these two characters seem to be an invention of the novel, and are records of the destinies of living people collected and administered by the land of the dead.

Fate Tree / Mingge Shu / 命格树: "Mingge," in both the novelverse and in the Love You Seven Times drama, are the stories high immortals (in CLJ's case, Siming) write to direct the fate of mortals. I'm not clear on the distinction between mingbu and mingge in the CLJ book.

Lucheng / 鹿城: In the book, a militarily important city of the Jin Dynasty, although the drama has styled it more into the Tang Dynasty, some thousand-plus years later.

Ronghao / 容昊: In the book, the wheelchair-bound master of the demon commerce city who's later revealed to be Chidi's obsessed student. We're not given the first character of his name in the book; it only ever calls him A'Hao.

Shangque / 觞阙: The name of the prime minister of the devil realm in the book, horrified by DFQC's erratic behavior while his body is being partially controlled by XLH. Show!Shangque's personality likely came from Dayu, Book!DFQC's overpowered flying serpent who follows him around like a loyal dog.

Shuofeng Sword / 朔风剑: "Cold northwest wind" sword, it's Chidi Nüzi's weapon in the book and the drama. It stays in sword form in the book, but becomes a geographical feature and a seal in the show.

Thousand Dreamland / Thousandfold Illusion / 千重幻境: A realm of endless very similar illusions that Ronghao/A'Hao tries to trap DFQC in to prevent him from finding XLH, in both media.

Xiao Lan Hua / Orchid / 小兰花: Our heroine!

Xie Wanqing / 谢惋卿: One of Chidi Nüzi's mortal incarnations in both media. However, in the book she is a general who's betrayed by the man she loves, an ordinary mortal, while XLH and DFQC watch.

Misc

Changheng / 长珩: Changheng's not in the book, but the book does have a troublemaker by the name of Changming 长命 who is DFQC's biggest "love rival" (he's like ten years old), and I wonder if the "Chang" part of Changheng's name comes from Changming.

Flying Fairy Pavilion / Life-Ending Pavilion / 飞仙阁: A reference to Xie Wanqing's real identity as the Fairy God of War. Also a euphemism for death.

Haishi / 海市: Conceptually, comes from the demon/nature sprite city, yaoshi 妖市, in the book. For the drama they got rid of the demon part and called it Haishi, Sea City.

Tongyun / 彤云: Xie Wanqing's maid, and an actual word that refers to red clouds or "dark clouds before snow." (x)

Xiao Run / 萧润: I'm not sure the Run part of his name is a reference to anything, but the Xiao is probably there to make the Xiao-lang wordplay work. (x)

Yannü 盐女 and Cangyan Sea 苍盐海: The "yan" is the same as in "Yannü." Which came first, I wonder? (The "cang" is the same as in Dongfang Qingcang.)

Sans Data

I do not know any special origins of, or was too lazy to look up:

Black Sash 黑杀斩, Bone-Devouring Spikes / Frost-Salt Nails 噬骨霜盐钉, Cangyan Sea 苍盐海, Changle Street, Cloud Shadow Mirror 云影镜, Danyin 丹音, Dark Pine Forest 暗松林, Dream of Nine Serenities / Jiuyou Dream 九幽一梦, Eternal Flame 长明火, Evil Qi / Suiqi 祟气, Firefly stone 奇幻流萤石, Fountain Palace 涌泉宫, Four-Water Pearl 四水宝珠, Fuju Cave 弗居洞, Glazefire 琉璃火, Granny Tie 铁婆婆, Green Flame Wine 绿焰酒, Hall of Divine Waters / Shenshui Ting 神水厅, Heart-Hidden Pin 藏心簪, Hidden Treasures Shop 藏珠斋, Jieli 结黎, Jinling, Jingyiya Teahouse 静逸雅轩, Karma Jail / Karma-Spanning Abyss 渡业渊, Liufang Pavilion 留芳阁, Night-Stream Building 夜溪楼, Northern Sea / Beiming 北溟, Primordial spirit 元神, Qingchuan 青川, Ranxi Flower 燃犀花, Shaking Light Peak 摇光峰, Shuiyuntian 水云天, Shuyu Forest 漱玉林, Silent Moon Palace / Jiyue Palace 寂月宫, Silver Lake 银湖, Soul Transformation Cauldron 化魂鼎, Soul Transformation Grounds 化魂墟, Southern Fairyland / Extreme South Fairy Continent 南极仙洲, Spirit Lock Gate 灵锁门, Spirit-Shattering Abyss 碎灵渊, Spirit Stones 灵石, Tianji Mirror 天极镜, Universe Pills 无极乾坤丹, Wind Prison 风牢, Wind Warriors, Wuqi 巫芑, Wuxian Clan / Witch-Salty Clan 巫咸族, Xilan 息兰, Xingluo 星落, Xishan 息山, Xiyun 息芸, Xuanshuang Whip 玄霜神鞭, Xuanxu Realm / Mysterious Realm 玄虚之境, You Jade Ring 幽玉戒, Yujing 玉京

Much thanks to sassybluee's Reference for Fic Writers.

This post is subject to change. Additions, corrections, and discussion welcome.

[wyrmmaster]

Discussing Blue Archive Lore and going progressively insane has been an experience. The Mystics, for example:

Each academy has its thing, right. Abydos is ancient Egyptian pantheon, Trinity is Christianity (+English/Irish/Scottish myth), Gehenna are the 72 demons, Valkyrie and SRT are Norse, Hyakkiyako is Japanese myth, and so on. So it's easy to establish a framework: "They're representative of cultural figures from x place".

So:

You have the ones that are Obvious: Shiroko is Anubis, Hoshino is Horus, Mika is the Archangel Michael, Seia is Gabriel, Hina is Baal, Wakamo is Tamamo no Mae, Niya is Ootakemaru, Kazusa is Cath Palug, Ako is Astaroth, among others

Then you have the ones that are "Obvious" as in "probably": Serika as Bastet, Saori as Lucifer, Nonomi as Nephtys, Nagisa as Uriel, Suzumi as Sariel, Koharu as Metatron, Hasumi as Sandalphon, Hinata as Jegudiel, Kanna as Odin, Miyako as Mimir, and so on.

Now you start getting a little out there, as you have to expand your the concept of "figure from x place" to "the concept from x place".

Shit like "well, Rin's family name is Nanagami, "Seven Gods", she's currently the highest authority at least on paper, so what if she's The Seven Holy Names of God per Jewish faith? If we assume the GSC President was capital G monotheistic God it'd make even more sense" "What if she's the seven heavenly virtues instead?" "Also possible but I think it's the former".

Then you get to fucking Millenium.

"Yuuka's halo is a simple perfect circle that looks artificial. Her birthday is 3/14. She is insanely good at math. She's pi. Stop laughing. Look at her twintails. π. Come on, keep up."

"Rio is either the Theory of Relativity both as a relation to Himari's potential Quantum Theory of Light and as an important foundation of our concept of physics, which would fit with her being MIllenium's president OR as she's the President of Millenium and created the city of Eridu, she's supposed to be the Sumerian Deity Enki, God of creation, knowledge, and water and patron deity of the ancient city Eridu." "Maybe she's both." "SHE'S PROBABLY BOTH, THANKS."

"Himari could be the Quantum Theory of Light in relation to Rio - being a more modern and complete concept, or she could be Isaac Newton, who had a mild obsession in the paranormal, like her." "What if she's also got a Mesopotamian-" "It'd be Ishtar, both because of her antagonism towards Enki in some myth her interest in the stars and as a riff on her whole conceit about her beauty. Further backed up by Eimi being her assistant that handles all the physical work, making her the Bull of Heaven. Eimi even had horns in her concept art." "Someone just put forth Euler's Identity, because it's considered a representation of mathematical beauty, like a sonnet is for poetry."

"The Game Development Department are Eroge Company references. Yuzu is Yuzusoft, Aris is Alicesoft, and the Saiba twins are Cyberworks's Wendybell and Tinkerbell. We can maybe assume that's just what they are." "Oh, thank god something stupid to end this post on-" "Aris's whole universally loved hero thing with an almighty weapon integral in saving the world might make her Gilgamesh-" "FINE OUR DAUGHTER IS GILGAMESH."

[crisp-burnt-water]

"Clara Bow" is Xie Lian's song!

Clara Bow is the sixteenth track in pop titan Taylor Swift's newest album, The Tortured Poets Department. A famous American actress from the early 1900s, the titular Clara Bow was globally renowned as the personification of the Roaring Twenties and a leading sex symbol of the era. Tragically, Bow succumbed to mania and varying mental illness in her later years, eventually ending up institutionalized and dying from heart attack.

I'm half-hallucinating on a steady stream of caffeine, insomnia, and lucid daydreams, and I am here to preach the uncanny similarities between our beloved trash-collecting crown prince and this great song, separated by oceans, millennia, language barriers, and vast cultural divides! Here goes (song lyrics in indented quotes, individual analysis below):

“You look like Clara Bow in this light Remarkable”

17-year-old Xie Lian adorned in a gilded mask and robes, fighting Mu Qing before a screaming crowd of his people—until a mysterious young child wrapped in bandages falls from the city walls, and he leaps into the sky, sunlight catching against his jewels, to grasp the boy in his arms in a stunning act of heroism. As the light glitters off his blade, isn't he quite so remarkable?

(Alternatively, these lines capture his brilliant and short-burning life as beloved crown prince, treasure of all of Xianle, bright and utterly adored—he looks like the legends of old, doesn't he? Like a god. And yet, too much like Bow, he is forced to bear tragedy after tragedy until he finally crumbles before an unforgivable end.)

“All your life, did you know You’d be picked like a rose”

Xie Lian did know, really—that he was an unparalleled martial genius, undoubtedly on a cultivation path to divinity ... that the treasured prince of Xianle would be picked out of the sea of mortality to become a god one day, ascending and torn from his lifelong flowering vine, killed and risen at once.

But he never realized how awful it would be, would it? That roses are only plucked when they are young and naive and beautiful, and they always die when separated from their roots, killed before they might wither—or gain too much wisdom about this cruel world.

Sword in one hand ... and flower in the other. That is our god.

“I’m not trying to exaggerate But I think I might die if it happened Die if it happened to me”

Xie Lian dreamed of being a god, was so very flattered and amazed when Guoshi told him that he would undoubtedly ascend in his lifetime. He was so very deathly excited about this prospect, and yet ... did he know what the true implications were, in this reality where his mortal life must die utterly? (Where he might die along with it?)

“No one in my small town thought I'd see the lights of Manhattan”

The glittering lights of New York, the shining lanterns of heaven. Both a fantastical (and whimsically wretched!) heart of rot and hope and endless possibility. It is where dreams are born to die. It is where monoliths reside.

He was their prince, yes, gorgeous and undefeatable, but did the people of Xianle realize that this barely-fledged child would truly see the sparkling glow of the Godly Capital?

“This town is fake but You're the real thing Breath of fresh air through smoke rings Take the glory, give everything”

Xie Lian was, by very far, the youngest-ever god to have ascended, and he still holds unshakable ties to his people (who, as Guoshi bluntly puts it, are a weakness for him, because they have not perished quite yet.) He's "fresh" to the playing field of divine politics and earthly manipulations, and he's also an uniquely brilliant prodigy ... just given the crown of godhood, fueled by his seven thousand temples in the mortal realm, what will this new deity bring to the world?

“Promise to be dazzling”

Promise, Crown Prince, promise to bring glory to your people and your kingdom and your family. You must swear.

“You look like Stevie Nicks In ’75, the hair and lips”

Junwu? Perhaps? So similar, so breathtakingly different.

They were to rise to match each other.

“Crowd goes wild at her fingertips Half moonshine, a full eclipse”

Adored, incandescent, absolutely perfect for three wretched years, his closest attendants given godhood as well … Xie Lian's at his peak now, the brightest moment in his young life—and he is expected to reign, so very beloved, for many centuries more. What could possibly break this shining mirage? The people cheer at the wave of his hand.

Besides, there's this imagery:

“I’m not trying to exaggerate, But I think I might die if I made it, Die if I made it No one in my small town Thought I'd meet these suits in LA, They all want to say …”

In the end, Xie Lian is a teenage boy. He is still reeling at his ascension, his newfound divinity, and his unending success. (At the same time, though, is it not simply his birthright?)

And who would have thought that these great, ancient gods all think, awestruck—

“This town is fake but You're the real thing Breath of fresh air through smoke rings Take the glory, give everything Promise to be dazzling”

He is incredible.

Everyone has so much faith in him, this dazzlingly popular martial god of their nation. The gods above and the millions of mortals below all pray to him with bated breath, drowning temples in gold for a glimpse of his glory, for a glimpse of his divinity. They want this new god and new blood to breathe novel life into his worshippers.

“The crown is stained but you’re the real queen Flesh and blood amongst war machines”

Again, Xie Lian is a martial god: undoubtedly brutal war machines, who cannot respond to prayers other than those who cry for war and bloodshed. But he remains so painfully human beneath this all, doesn't he? He is young and hopeful and blind and foolish, and his heart remains mortal still. For all his power, he still remembers what it is to walk upon the earth, and that is nothing but a curse in the long journey of godhood. 

He is ruined by his own humanity. "Flesh and blood," praised for it, killed for it.

“You're the new god we’re worshipping Promise to be … dazzling”

LITERALLY. QUITE LITERALLY XIE LIAN'S STORY. NO OTHER COMMENT.

(Additionally, the repetition of "dazzling" ...)

“Beauty is a beast that roars Down on all fours Demanding 'more'”

The fall of Xianle is all too inevitable and all too quick. He is beautiful and he is divine and he is perfect ... and what of it? They demand more, and more, and more. He has sacrificed everything he has already! How can he stop this mounting horror of conflict? How can he fix the hearts of starving peoples who are already too crazed to hear anything beyond the cries of their own desperation?! 

They will always ask for more. And, soon enough, even the beautiful Flower-Crowned Martial God will be unable to meet their demands.

“Only when your girlish glow Flickers just so Do they let you know It's hell on earth to be heavenly”

Plague and disaster and war and famine! What could be more hellish than that? And it is made all the worse by Xie Lian's status as a god, by his overwhelming power that tears the world apart the more he tries to save it.

He is heavenly. He wants the best for all of his peoples. He wants an end to this suffering. And what is the result? More pain, more torture, death by a thousand swords. But he would never know until the last piece of his kingdom slipped away, until the people began to smash his temples down at last. (He is in heaven, he is in hell.)

“Them’s the breaks They don’t come gently”

NOT GENTLY AT ALL. Xie Lian, fallen from heaven, risen again, and then finally betrayed and cast down with chains that bind him horrifically to life …

“You look like Taylor Swift In this light We're loving it. You've got edge she never did

It has been eight hundred years. Xianle is nothing but a dust-kissed whisper in the history books. The rivers have swelled and dried, and mountains which once seemed so unmovable have collapsed, burned, been covered with new forests a thousand times over.

He is the Flower-Crowned Martial God, Sword in One Hand and Blossom in the Other. He is the prince of a kingdom of nothing, scarred by history no mortal will ever speak of again. He has spent nearly a millennium wandering the lands, learning the whisper of the brooks, the turns of the roads, the bite of the winter. He is a heroic general and street performer and scrap collector and young priest and the laughingstock of the three realms. He wears a bamboo hat gifted to him on a rainy day centuries ago. He walks with strange bandages around his neck and wrists and ankles, hiding the most inevitable brand of his past.

He is everything, and nothing at once. He is very much himself, and yet so much more ... All of history undulates with his quiet breaths. Can a god of war find peace in such a tumultuous world? When Xie Lian, Crown Prince of Xianle, ascends for the third time, all realms find themselves turned and enraptured, seeking the answer and the final outcome.

“The future's bright … Dazzling.”

That mysterious little orphan from eight centuries ago, bloodied and covered with bandages?

He has never once forgotten your grace. He has built a grand city in the name of your glory. He remembers what your great empire of a million worshippers was once like, and is determined to see it come into fruition again. He has made a name for himself—Crimson Rain Sought Flower, the supreme Ghost King—so that he may stand proudly by your side and be worthy of facing this world with you.

You have wandered the same converging path for one thousand years. You have been killed and gilded and cast into dust all the while during, and, now, you find each other. In a heartbeat, you fall into each other's embrace, and you vow to never let go.

The future's bright ... dazzling with the shine of thousands of lanterns.

Thank you to anybody who's read this far! <3 This analysis was just written for fun on a whim, and I'm absolutely open to any and all discussion~

Also, I apologize for any missteps, as I am new to Tumblr ^-^

[blues824]

Good evening and happy early Christmas i found your account by looking through the obey me tags and saw you do obey me request if you don't mind may I get the obey me brothers with a Gilgamesh female reader? Sorry on my whole part if it's too long and if it is you can ignore it<3

Gilgamesh is ‏The strongest heroic spirit. Gilgamesh is the great half-god, half-human king born from the union between the King of Uruk, Lugalbanda, and goddess Rimat-Ninsun. He ruled the Sumerian city-state of Uruk, the capital city of ancient Mesopotamia in the B.C. era. He was an ultimate, transcendent being so divine as to be two thirds god and one third human, and no others in the world could match him. He was a despot possessing high divinity who believed he was invincible. He is not merely a legend, and is said to have actually existed and ruled during the Sumer Dynasty five thousand years ago. He was the King of Heroes (英雄王, Eiyū Ō?) who possessed all things in the world, whose tale is recorded in mankind's oldest epic poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh which portrays Gilgamesh as a hero, destined to be king and achieve great feats, who is driven to meet his destiny, facing challenges together with his best friend Enkidu.

he would reprimand the King and rectify his arrogance. They entered a battle that spanned several days, and Gilgamesh was forced to use all his strength to match his transforming opponent.

He became the greatest and richest king on Earth, who eventually acquired all the treasures of the world. Uruk became unprecedentedly prosperous, and Gilgamesh was considered so powerful that even the gods could not ignore his existence. One goddess, Ishtar the goddess of fertility, even fell in love with Gilgamesh and proposed marriage to the perfect king. He rejected her immediately because he knew her to be a witch who was unfaithful, cruel, and the corruptor of all men. She became furious, feeling that he had insulted her, and went to her father, the god Anu, to get revenge. She begged him to unleash the Bull of Heaven.

The unopposable beast of the gods caused seven years of starvation and destruction on the earth. Working together, they defeated it after binding it with the Chains of Heaven, causing the dark clouds covering the world to fade and saving the land from the flood. Ishtar's reputation was once again crushed, and her fury did not abate. She requested they be put to death for the sin of slaying a beast of the gods with the body of a human. Her request was granted, and Enkidu, created by the gods, was unable to defy the decree.

He slowly weakened and was returned to clay, as Gilgamesh desperately held on to the crumbling clod in his arms. He was angered by this, believing that he was the one who deserved retribution should it be required. Enkidu attempted to assuage him by telling Gilgamesh that he was only one of the many treasures in Gilgamesh's collection, that he would find countless more greater than him in time.

Enkidu returning to dust, meeting death, greatly changed his views. Death had never inspired grief or fear in him until that moment, and it had never once even been in his mind though he knew that it awaited all. Seeing the one who held equal power to him perish before his eyes let him register the true reality of death for the first time. Falling into depression and with his vigor gone, he sought out the Herb of Immortality, a spirit herb of perpetual youth and eternal life.

His title, King of Heroes, is not meant to call him a king who is a hero, but instead implies that he is the king over all heroes. He is mankind's oldest hero, the origin of all myths and model on which heroes are based, so his story is copied within the mythologies of all the countries of the world. The heroes of various myths are derived from his legend, so his Gate of Babylon possesses all of their Noble Phantasms. Though there are several heroes holding the title of "King", the King of Knights and King of Conquerors, he is the only one in all of heaven and earth crowned with the title of "King of All Heroes.He is often referred to as the "golden Archer" and the "golden-sparkling Servant," and Rider generally calls him "Goldie." He is similarly called Gold-glitter (金ピカ, Kin-Pika?) due to his hair, armor, and golden soul, but Rin's reasoning behind the name has less to do with the color of his hair and more simply due to the fact that she thinks he looks like he is living a rich and luxurious life.[8] He looks like a regular foreigner to both Rin and Archer, and he does not openly give off the impression of a Servant or Master due to his body being made of flesh after the Fourth Holy Grail War.

Personality ↓

He is extremely arrogant and selfish, believing himself to be the sole potentate and only king of the world even many millennia after his death. He cannot acknowledge the authority of anyone, including that of other kings and especially that of the gods. He considers all those around him as inferior due to this fact, viewing all other kings and heroes as a collection of mongrels, and loathes any individual who would try to be on the same level as him. The only exception is Enkidu, who he considered to be his equal and only friend.

Gilgamesh greatly differs from most of the sovereigns and leaders in the history of humanity. He placed himself before his nation and the people, and he had neither the curiosity nor desire to conquer, possibly because he had too much in the beginning. He takes the time to enjoy himself, mastering every treasure and every pleasure. With conviction to treat good and evil equally, he has no need for other ideologies and ways of life when the absolute basis is "himself."[5] His actions and way of life left him alone, so Enkidu compared rectifying his attitude to rectifying his solitude

Sorry for taking so long on this 😭😭. It’s a bit short, but romantic nonetheless.

Lucifer at first really disliked you until he saw that you acted exactly like him. You were prideful, you were arrogant, and you put yourself first. Being a queen and an overall highly worshiped person might do that to you, though. However, you saw him as your equal. The king consort to your queen, if you will. 

He does find your habit of collecting treasures to be very annoying, but you spent your own money and used your own influence, so it wasn’t exactly affecting him. He actually does like purchasing things for you when you do something good, but you hate it because you think that he’s looking down at you.

Mammon also thought you were annoying but you pointed out that he had no right to have that much audacity. After all, he was worse than you were. This caused you both to get into a physical altercation, and you surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) came out victorious.

The two of you actually loved buying things for each other as an apology after fights. You both loved hoarding treasures, but to the Avatar of Greed, you were the best treasure yet. You loved how he played hard to get, as it meant that he was something/someone you didn’t have yet. Little did you know, you both had each other.

Leviathan almost cried because you reminded him of a character from an anime he had watched. Your personality matched them to a T, but you absolutely despised how he compared you to a lowly character from a silly show that was nowhere near as good and as awesome as you were. 

As the two of you really got to know each other, he started receiving small figurines from you as gifts. The acts of affection made him so flustered that he couldn’t face you for a few days after each gift was given. When he finally gathered the courage, you would smirk because you were slowly conquering his heart.

Satan and you clashed heads at first. You both wanted to be number one, and your tempers were definitely not something to laugh at. Numerous times, Lucifer had to step in and stop the fight before it destroyed the entirety of the House of Lamentation. The fights often ended up in you both panting from yelling and throwing things around.

Gift-giving wasn’t really his love language, but he had to admit that he was impressed at your ability to show that you care about someone else aside from yourself when he saw that you gave him the next book in a series that he was currently reading. In return, he gave you a golden necklace, since you managed to get the book’s cover in true gold.

Asmodeus thought you were so hot. You know how some people like others who have anger issues because those anger issues are not directed towards them? That’s what the situation was. He got to see your more vulnerable and sensitive side, and it was reserved for him and only him. The thought just made his heart flutter.

He also loved getting you gifts just as you did with him, as it meant that you both could constantly be reminded of each other no matter where you were. You loved the feeling of being worshiped and in the middle of his world. It gave you such a great feeling in your chest, you couldn’t contain the smile that appeared on your face.

Beelzebub did not appreciate your prideful attitude, but he recognizes that he can be selfish as well. Especially when it came to food. Another thing is as you both get to know more about each other, he learns that you were a queen once. Instead of conquering lands, you conquered treasure because you believed that they were tools to create all of humanity and civilization, and thus are more important.

He also loves giving you gifts, and you like to give him the best food made from Mesopotamian recipes that you remembered with your oh-so-great memory. He might actually have a new favorite food, if you can cook. To be fair, he was surprised to see you cooking because you were a ruler and thus you had cooks of your own back in ancient Mesopotamia.

Belphegor and you also clashed heads numerous times. When he tried to kill you, he did not know what he was getting himself into. The thing is, you put yourself first. At that moment, you had to choose between either life or death. It surprised no one when you almost killed the Avatar of Sloth, had Lucifer not stepped in to stop you.

Your relationship didn’t repair any until much later, where you extended the olive branch by gifting him a new pillow from the same brand that his old one was from. Seeing it in his room after school made him smile a bit, but there was no way he would let you see that he was going soft for you.

[bookswithsyd]

It Was HIM All Along! | Heaven Official’s Blessing

Coming back to present times, book seven of Heaven Official’s Blessing returns to the kiln with Xie Lian and White No-Face. I was waiting for the entirety of arc four to come back to the kiln. I wanted to see an epic battle between the two, maybe have Xie Lian unlock some hidden strength to defeat White No-Face and escape. That did not happen. Instead, the least likely thing happens and San Lang’s giant divine statue breaks Xie Lian out of the kiln.

Honestly, the Mount Tonglu scene didn’t grab me until Jun Wu descended to assist with the duel. Only the lending of spiritual power and the unique way of obtaining a sword grabbed me for more than a page. After everyone is sent to fend off evil spirits set on re-releasing Human Face Disease to the world, things start to heat up.

Once Xie Lian and Hua Cheng make it to the Royal Capital, Heaven’s Eye, and friends frankly are unless for the first half of what I dub the Human Array Section. None of the masters wanted to lend themselves to help defend the city. Thank god one of the best characters makes his return! Shi Qingxuan and all this broken glory is the only reason why the array gets started. Seeing him living life as a beggar, injured was hard. After reading the events of book four, I only want happiness for him, I wish he could be in better condition, but seeing him alive is enough for me.

Once the array got going, all was well for a minute, the masters gathered around to join, they brought disciples and the evil spirits could be captured. I was not expecting the Xianle state preceptor to be the thing that got the plot moving. It was a great way to transition back to the Heavenly Court.

This whole time, I thought that there was this deep connection between White No-Face and Xie Lian, but instead, I got the reveal that Jun Wu was actually the monster lurking around all the misery that had happened. Seeing Jun Wu take out most of the Heavenly Capital, the way he easily captured all the officials, set the court ablaze, and transformed the Heavens to be his own fighting machine finally showed off all the power that was mentioned throughout the series. Even though it was as the antagonist, it was nice to see that power in action.

Even with all the seriousness of this section, there were still moments of secondhand embarrassment to brighten my mood. From Qingxuan walking in on Xie Lian and Hua Cheng’s goodbye kiss to Xie Lian pulling Qi Ying in front to hide his spiritual power exchange, there is always some way for Xie Lian to make a scene.

A lot of this novel revolves around keeping the human array intact and fighting against Jun Wu. After his near defeat in Black Water territory, I thought Jun Wu retreating to the Royal Capital signified the beginning of the final battle. This was a good fight scene, Pei Ming facing Jun Wu one-on-one, Qi Rong almost getting Guzi killed, and the three mountain spirits coming to the rescue by becoming a sword all added to the suspense. Seeing everyone come together to try to take out a single enemy was a nice change of pace. Bringing together most of the introduced characters from the series made this scene even more impactful.

The ending trip back to Wuyong was the most stressful thing to read. With the uncertainty of Mu Qing being who he says he is, and Hua Cheng rolling a one and saying that it means something dangerous is waiting for him, this was not the best way to enter a new scene. Entering the one place where the enemy feels most at home is not the best idea before what MUST be the final fight. Ending the entire book by finding Feng Xin alive and scared of Mu Qing is not a reassuring way to go into the last book of the series.

[noosphe-re]

In a time when the expansion of the United States–Mexico border wall looms over more nuanced discourses on national citizenship, it is urgent for architects and designers to envision what it means to be a citizen today.

Questions of belonging, of who should be included and how, are posed with every athlete taking a knee, every #metoo, every presidential tweet, and every protest sign or fist raised. Yet as transnational flows of capital, digital technologies, and geopolitical transformations expand, conventional notions of citizenship are undermined. We define the term as a tangle of rights, responsibilities, and attachments linked to the built environment. And so we ask: How might architecture respond to, shape, and express rhizomatic and paradoxical conditions of citizenship?

The US Pavilion explores seven spatial scales: Citizen, Civitas, Region, Nation, Globe, Network, and Cosmos. These scales, telescoping from body to city to heavens, broadly position citizenship as a critical global topic. Commissioned installations by architects, landscape architects, artists, and theorists investigate spaces of citizenship marked by histories of inequality and the violence imposed on people, non-human actors, and ecologies. These works aim to manifest the democratic ideals of inclusion against the grain of broader systems: new forms of sharing economy platforms, the legacies of the Underground Railroad, tenuous cross-national alliances at the border region, or the seemingly Sisyphean task of buttressing coastline topologies against rising tides.

The installations and the film and video works on view do not solve the complex relationships of governance, affinity, and circumstance that bind us, citizen to stranger, self to other. Instead, they use architecture’s disciplinary agency to render visible paradoxes and formulations of belonging. Only when spatial understandings of citizenship—legal, cultural, and ecological—are in sight might we struggle free from antiquated definitions, forms, or bureaucracies and activate potent spaces for design. —Dimensions of Citizenship, US Pavilion, Biennale Architettura 2018, May 26–November 25, 2018, Venice (http://dimensionsofcitizenship.org)

[sketchfanda]

A Little Moxxie Love Lore: The 101 basics of Hell and those who call it Home.

Hell is often said to be what you make of it, Jean Paul Sartre once remarked it was being trapped for eternity in a room with all of your friends but really of course he'd say that. Given that all of his friends were French but I digress. Many of course when they hear of Hell, no matter their religion, often think of the first thing that comes to mind in the form of a wasteland inferno. A deep black pit of torment and agony where the damned souls of murderers, rapists and all sorts of the worst life had to offer would go and forever suffer torture and punishment for an eternity for all the horror and bad choices they'd made in their time on earth.

Well that's only rather partly correct, but not the full story for you see, Hell had tiers or layers so to speak at least in this universe. Much like how Dragonabll, you had the vast universe, divvied into sections from north to south, west and east, planets like earth, the afterlife, heaven, hell,the realms of the kais that oversee the universe, this Hell had sections. In the deepest levels of course you had the common knowledge aforementioned hell, reserved for the worst of humanity and some demons who were just generally too unpleasant and not worth dealing with or tolerationg which left them to take their aggression and frustration out on the damned, the rapists,child molesters, the Hitlers, Stalins, Kim jongs, guevaras and Epsteins of the world all through nine cirlces.

And then you have the more surface level so to speak with which many you may all be more familiar with, a 7 ring levelled warped, twisted demonic mirror version of our own world and societies. Due to its proximity towards limbo and how fickle religions can be as to what constitutes and qualifies as sin, on top of not even Heaven itself knowing how a soul gets into either place. So many a soul can often wind up in Hell as one of many Sinners for who knows what minor offence could be damning, some theorise that the bureaucracy within the afterlife’s limbo is often to blame due to all the red tape and paperwork involved in processing a soul. This also applies to the possibility that The Pride ring, especially pentagram and it’s proximity to purgatory make this surface level of hell equivalent ti probation period of certain sinners, Chen why some have the possibility of being redeemed and getting into heaven.

The seven rings of heaven are of course occupied by a constant shifting population of Hellborn, demons who are natural born and raised natives of the inferno with many a flora and fauna alike, and the sinners, whose appearances or species form often vary in terms of looks and shape. Though some gather they can reflect an aspect of a soul’s personality as well as how they had died in the living world and while Hellborn are free to move about in between the other circles of Hell, Sinners are confined to the pride ring, hence the often chaotic nature of places like Pentagram city, where sinners are often especially targeted during the infamous Extermination day. Some sinners and demons alike are also said to share the potential to become Overlords should they manage to amass enough soils for a power base though where this puts them in the social pecking order with the Sins or the Ars Goetia in terms of power is debatable. The rings of He,l are as follows.

Pride, the designated home for sinners, with Pentagram City as its capital and ground zero for the exorcists in extermination day. Overseen by the fallen angel lucifer and his daughter princess Charlemagne “Charlie” Morningstar, owner and operator of the Hazbin Hotel, her persomal passion project to house and redeem sinners. Current success record:1 redeemed soul.

Wrath, overseen by Satan, the redneck central hkme to many farms, a veritable desert wasteland of dust, volcanoes and the middle of goddamn nowheeee.

gluttony, overseen by queen Bee-lzebub,her home a regular hive, pun unintended, for her parties, popular among many a Hellhound and imp alike. A veritable hot spot for those looking to indulge in some good food and chug down Bee-lze-juice, however those with a self-destructive streak are politely but firmly sent away for fear and concern of drinking themselves to near death.

greed, overseen by Mammon, a chaotic cesspit of crime where the only thing cheap is life. As green and dirty as the money it carries. Among the many crime families and gangs which occupy and run this dive include the Knolastname family and yes loan sharks are literal around here.

lust, the pornographic hub overseen by Asmodeus, aka Ozzie, the central ground zero for Hell’s adult entertainment. Home to the infamous Skullfuck productions,a studio with a sizeabke fanbase among Hell and even the living world and Heaven, and many a succubus and incubus. A porn store and sex shop on every corner and block, love hotels a plenty to choose from and home to both Ozzie's personal night club and his factory which produces and distrivubtes many erotic products.

sloth and envy, overseen by leviathan and belphefor. Notable about sloth is that it’s hospitals are slow as fuck,given it takes five years for hellhounds to get their annually required Hellbies shots. you think healthcare on Earth is a nightmare?

Hell’s societal hierarchy stands as so from top to bottom: Fallen Angels (Lucifer chief among them), The other six of the 7 sins,the Ars Goetia who are the cream of the crop among Hell’s elite wealthy class, Overlords, Sinners, native demons such as sex demons like succubi and incubi, possessors and baphomets, and the bottom rung of the ladder, Hellhounds and Imps. Hellhounds of course stand just a little higher above the latter due to their value in suecirtynwork as bodyguards. It’s seen by some as taboo for anyone outside of their station or species to be seen in a sexual and or romantic relationship with an Imp but some say otherwise.

Then of course there are enigmas like Mr.Sketch, who seem to be similar to sinner and demon alike yet something different entirely given that unlike sinners they can move freely about the other circles. Some theories and rumours abound such individuals are souls in the afterlife who wind up in heaven or hell by chance on their way to occupying a phsyical life in Earth, with exposure to the energies of either realm having skme shape and influence in them overall thanks to their being basically blank skates that had nt experienced virtue and sin alike. Making them peculiar paradoxes akin to the theory of Schrodinger's Cat. They shouldn't be and yet they are, they think and feel and thus they exist. Mr.Sketch is of course just one of those particilar Enigmas that has come to call Hell home and made quite a living for himself and if osften seen in the company of what may be some of his fellow breed. That is when he isn't busy enjoying the company of female demons, especially succubi who no surprise make up a large chunk of the talent roster in SkullFuck productions.

Coming up next, a little spotlight into a few of the demon breeds and species that make up some of Hell's Hellborn natives. Stay tuned.

[mithrifer]

Seven Heavenly/Capital Virtues or Fruit of the Spirit in Hazbin Hotel

In Hell, the hierarchy is based on personal strength. Lucifer is stronger than the sins, who are stronger than the ars goetia and the overlords, who are stronger than the sinners, who are stronger than the hellborn. However, while we know heaven is also hierarchical; I don't think it would be based on strength but something else like devotion or 'goodness'.

This is Adam, leader of the exorcists in Hazbin Hotel. There is also a subordinate angel of his named Lute(Lot?). While it hasn't been directly told yet, I don't think it's a stretch to say that these two are the biblical human prophets who became angelic upon salvation, similar to the sinners in the pride ring.

The curious thing about humans in Christianity (as far as I'm aware) is that on default, without sin, humans are holier than angels and I think they would keep that attribute upon salvation akin to how bad humans can be more evil than the hellborn. Now, this doesn't mean much for Hell, because the hierarchy is based on strength and even an overlord is going to be weaker than the sins. But for heaven, I think it could mean a lot.

In the hierarchy of angels (of Christianity), the angels that do all the stuff you could describe as powerful, such as wrestling with people or destroying cities with their wings are considered part of the lower orders. The highest orders of angels do not leave heaven at all, they are always at God's side. Now, this doesn't prove a lot for us, because cherubim are considered the second highest order but they are just little cute holy imp equivalents in Hazbin. So doing a one to one comparison would be silly. But we can still derive that strength doesn't have much to do with your standing in heaven. After all, what use does God have for the strength of his angels, whose don't even hold a candle to his? Better devotion is a more important trait.

Where I'm going with this is that I think the virtues/fruit are from the virtuous. As in, were once human. I'd classify the virtues/fruit specifically as Seraphim, because they're the highest order and there's eight of them carrying God's throne (this might be an Islam exclusive thing though, so lmk if I'm wrong) which is such a neat number just between seven and nine. Though, as we can see with the Cherubim in Helluva Boss, this could easily not apply so it is just a headcanon on my part. I wanted to give it as a contrast because they rank far higher above archangels (second lowest order) despite the only thing we know about them being that they are really holy and are fiery. (with holy fire. they're holy.) Famous angels such as Gabriel and Michael are archangels and they are very strong, yet the standing of their class isn't as high.

(It is noteworthy to say though: Gabriel and Michael are exceptions because they are holy angels, over the paradise, the serpents and the Cherubim. So some angels of any caste, like them, could represent the virtues as well [and they often do in christianity]. This is why when I see anyone try to assign the virtues characters, it tends to be them. However, it is also noteworthy to say that all angels ['cept you know who] bowed down to the humans in Eden, so they aren't holier than humans by nature. They're generally holier, because humans have the original sin and a myriad of other sins but a holy human in heaven would not. The difference in holiness holds especially trye in Hazbinverse because they clearly posess free will, just as the demons and humans do. Of course, they possess free will in Christianity too, but they're holy and can/will not sin there; which directly contrasts with what we see in Helluva Boss.

Some of you might be saying: "But in Hazbinverse the reckoning has not happened yet!" And well, yeah, that's right. So it's more than likely that the humans in heaven still carry their sins [more than a few of them are not saints, as hell has a bunch of sinners, meaning people still go to heaven or hell before the reckoning even happens: without being saints. {Are antisaints a thing? Idk, but I'm fairly sure a random school teacher wouldn't be one.}], if salvation even is a thing in Hazbinverse. But the fact that angels and demons are both essentially just humans with flavor in HH/B sort of makes up for that issue for me, angels can sin and demons can have virtues. Even in modern day.

...Hilariously, the middlemost hierarchical order is called Virtues. It's just a name though, they do nature stuff, assist with miracles and strengthen human faith.)

So... This means we have a few options to pick from as to who is going to represent these virtues/fruit.

If we pick from the angels, the common pick would be the seven archangels. The issue with this is that it's kind of hard to say who they are? Raphael is the one who explicitly mentions the concept, Michael and Gabriel are generally included. The number of names different churches invoke range from three to eight. At that point you're just like, turning all these different canons to soup. Which, yeah, fair this is Hazbin Hotel; but the names invoked are all different aside from those three too, so you just have to pick some. Do you go with a specific canon? I suggest picking the Eastern Catholic archangels in that scenario, as there are seven invoked and Dante is a Catholic too (though, not the same type).

Speaking of Dante, I haven't read the Divine Comedy so if all of these virtues/fruits are already represented by someone specific in there feel free to clown on me in the comments. I don't think the spheres in Paradiso match one to one with either the virtues or the fruit though, unlike the sins in Purgatorio, so I'm not sure if it's relevant. I don't think Divine Comedy goes beyond a big inspiration for the cartoon.

Picking from the humans gives us wayyy more options, which you might say just makes the angel name issue from earlier worse, but I disagree. While we have much more options we can also pick a lot more freely. I'd still introduce a limit so that we pick from biblical characters, preferably from the prophets and the holy, so that our picks can at least compete with the archangels. Holiness wise.

Let's finally give the heavenly virtues, capital virtues and fruit of the spirit.

The seven heavenly virtues are the four cardinal virtues of prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude; along with the three theological virtues of faith, hope and love.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

...Okay, let's be real. If Hazbinverse is going to have seven quirky characters dedicated to attributes, they certainly won't be of the categories that don't even really directly oppose the seven quirky characters they already have. We need stark opposites.

So here are the seven capital virtues. They are chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, patience and humility.

Then, who are we going to pick to represent them?

Well, uh...

It's up to you really! I'm having a bit of a challenge with it personally, tbh.

I'll just go over my picks virtue by virtue and you'll see which ones I'm more confident about and which ones I'm... not. As I've established I'm going to mostly be picking among prophets.

Chastity! Ah, yes, that one. You know, it's kind of odd how this is a good thing considering all the parts in the Bible where people are blessed with being fruitful and multiplying. Chastity is the avoidance of lust and being loyal to your spouse and the whole concept of holy marriage, or being celibate as a whole in order to stay pure as God intended. I wish they just named it loyalty, it's more widespan. Anyway, the person I picked for chastity is Joseph. If you know Joseph's story, you know about how his brothers tricked him and threw him into a well, after which he gets rescued thanks to God and is brought to Egpyt, where the wife of the Pharaoh's guard captain tries to seduce him, but he stays chaste (yep) and she gets him jailed for a few years, wherein he interprets people's dreams and predicts prosperity and famine. He becomes the vizier of Egypt, later on keeping his family safe in their entry and reuniting with them, showcasing how he had been loyal to them this entire time, like how he had been loyal to God. His loyalty is the reason I picked him; he remained faithful to God even through the most dire of circumstances and was able to prevent himself from getting corrupted.

After that, I could come up with one for diligence. Diligence is effort spent on something while believing and depending on God, basically trusting him and doing your part in some job. Working with determination while you keep your faith and spirits up. The person I picked for diligence is Noah. Noah spent night and day trying to convince his people to believe in God. But they didn’t believe, and Earth was full of sin and misdeed, so God wanted to flood it over and start again from a small sample. He told Noah to build a massive boat and so he did, then he took a pair of each animal and his family along with the few who believed in him into the boat. God flooded the world over and when the waters went away, Noah led and built humanity from the ground up. I don't think I need to tell you why he's diligence.

It didn't even take me a second to pick the one for patience. Before that though, patience is the ability to endure and perservere through difficult, dull or otherwise unfavorable circumstances. My pick is Job. Basically, Satan dares God that Job's only faithful because he's got it good. So God double dares him to ruin his life and is curious how far he can push poor Job before he breaks, though he believes he won't. He makes him lose his riches, kills his kids, gives him illness, etc. But Job remains steadfast and despairs not at God but only at not knowing why he was going through these things. In the end God congratulates Job and blesses him with health, more wealth than he used to have and more kids, which definitely replace dead kids just fine.

Okay so I spent forever trying to find others to fit the other virtues but like most of these prophets are just assholes????? I was really weirded out because this wasn't the case with the lore I was accustomed to, but I guess it's from a whole another religion.

What I considered for charity was Isaac but apparently he wasn't aware he was going to be sacrificed which ruins the point. I also considered Mary for either humility or temperance but I wasn't sure how that would work out with how Jesus is God and all. Maybe I'm being too strict, I don't know.

Anyway though, this was a fun thought experiment! Please let me know who you think would make for cool virtues. I also have considered some designs but then I thought about how the sins have a circus theme, but I couldn’t come up with a virtue theme so I couldn’t make my designs fit an order. What sort of designs would you make? Seraphim are fiery and have six wings, so those were my considerations, but imagination knows no bounds.

[arctic-oceans]

WIP intro!

( my writeblr intro can be found here )

Wolves Gone Wild ( WIP tag: wgw )

-

There is calm before the genesis of the storm:

It starts on Level Three, from the lips of a sailor and it spreads like a deadly disease. From the hands of farmers in the fields, to the stalls of merchants in the cities to the homes of the wealthy in the Capital.

The citizens sing about it on cold evenings when they gather around the fire, and the workers whistle melodies at midday when they harvest the crops. At the end, it is heard over the radio.

The hymn of the wandering God who ascended from the Well.

Aston had dreamed of the Stairs his whole life:

The sweat on his brow, the hot iron in his palms, and the raging wind whistling in his ears under a sky embroidered with lapis lazuli. So when he finds a boy passed out on the Poppy Hill with the salt of the Ocean etched on them instead of a Marking, a premonition of the impending downpour awakens within him.

That was just the beginning- the smell of smoke from a fire burning miles away. It was the wind of change. Because these things- the good, the bad, and the in-between- have one thing in common. They are made of lightning.

-

Wolves Gone Wild is a NA, low fantasy ( no magic ), queer adventure that is set in a world of my own making that serves as an allegory for capitalism and the gap between the socio-economic classes.

-

Setting:

The World consists of Seven Levels which are vertically connected via a natural phenomena called Stairs. Each Level acts as a continent, and each has its own unique ecosystem.

There can be found two openings for the Stairs on each Level. One, that one can climb upwards to the entrance of the upper Level, and one that one can choose to descend in order to go to the lower Level. Ascending and descending can be proven to be deadly due to certain conditions in each Level, and few attempt it.

The Levels, as they are known, are:

Level 1; a volcanic wasteland. Otherwise known as Hell, it's a place where no man lives.

Level 2; a vast Ocean.

Level 3; this is the Level where most of the population resides. Most residents live in villages amongst agriculture fields which cover about 80% of the Level while the other 20% is a more mountainous area with a couple cities.

Level 4; an unhibited, underground area full of caves and mine shafts.

Level 5; a mountain range found in the arctic. The only people who live there are found in a sole city carved in the mountaintops which is charectarised by its technological advances.

Level 6; a dense forest.

Level 7 is a myth, as far myths go. Often called as Heaven, it can only be a dreamlike place.

Markings: One gets a Marking at the age of seven. It is a tattoo all people are required to get at the base of their neck which states the following information:

Level in which they were born

Name and Surname

Date of Birth

City/village in which they were born

Father's name and surname

Mother's name and surname

Those who are exiled will have their Marking is crossed out with a knife cut, leaving visible only the Level in which they were born and their name, the rest are usually covered by the thick scarring. Markings are used as an id, so by being exiled one can be denied entry in most places.

Those who dare are always rewarded: the highest paying job one could have in this world is being a Supply Runner.

Supply Runners are trained individuals who ascend and descend the Stairs, carrying with them supplies and resources and bridge the distance between the Levels.

-

Plot ( kind of ):

Juno, Aston, Kenta and Rin are united against all odds on Level 3. With different ambitions in mind, they embark together on a journey up the Levels, seeking after their dreams. During their ascencsion, a storm is found and it seems more dangerous than ever. As the group finds themselves interwined with the fate of the world, they can do nothing else than face the tempest head on.

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Main Characters (and some funny descriptions):

Juno Braudshaw ( 21 y/o - they/them - Level 1 )

Has problems

Has seen some shit and has scars to prove it

Can and will fight you if needed

Someone really needs to feed them, they're always starving

Is the glass half empty or half full?

They're the first to arrive and the last to leave

They makes up conspiracy theories

They will lie down and sleep next to you and there’s nothing that can stop them

Was adopted by Rin ( not officially but as a bond )

Too good for this world, has suffered too much

If you smile at them or hold a door open they will die for you no question asked

Their entire existence can be summed up with the “this is fine” meme

Lovestarved, touch-starved but mainly, food-starved

They like to count ocean waves

Aston Metcalf ( 23 y/o - he/him - Level 3 )

Problem causer

Your problematic fave

Also that dark haired angsty boy(™)

Is an orphan and mad about it

ADHD(™)

You wish you had a haircut that looked as nice as his

Really just needs a hug dammit

Flirty disaster

Will fight you

A bit loud

Omg, he’s so loud

Quiet? Never heard of it

In reality, he tries a lot

Family is of great importance to him

Kenta Hayes ( 22 y/o - he/him - Level 3 )

Is problem

Have you ever heard of Shots by Imagine Dragons? That’s his theme song

Exiled from the Capital and couldn’t care less about it ( he does care about it but for other reasons )

He cuts his hair on his own and he’s not always successful

He has many piercings that cost at least two months of rent

Actively cares about three things and three things only: loving his mother, hating capitalism and being ripped as hell

Dummy thick/buff

He likes archery and carving small wooden totems

Vegetarian

Anxiety (™)

Scheming face 24/7 but in reality he's just trying to figure out what to have for breakfast

Let this good boy get some sleep, he is too stressed for this shit

Mutter mutter mutter mutter mutter mutter

Rin Nguyen ( 20 y/o - she/her - Level 3 )

Problem solver

Mum friend but don’t try her

Doesn’t have time for anyone’s bullshit

Brutally honest

Has seen some shit

Money(™)

She will light up a fire and cook a warm meal while the other three ( more likely two: Aston and Kenta, Juno is a babyboy they would never actively cause harm<3 or would they?? Hehe ) are fighting, but she will also dump the plate of soup on their heads if they tire her out too much

Her smile can destroy anything on her way

Sarcastic lil shit

Lives for the memes

Knows her way around

Connections, connections everywhere

She likes to collect herbs and flowers

She will let you vent to her about your problems but she does not promise that she will help you

The glue between the four of them

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Side Characters:

Ioh Park ( 20 y/o - he/him - Level 2 )

The Creature ( 27 y/o - they/them & it/its - Level 5 )

Blythe Anderson ( 25 y/o - he/him - Level 3 )

Sorn Do ( 19 y/o - she/her - Level 5 )

Alcar Do ( 19 y/o - he/him - Level 5 )

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Taglist ( ask to be added! ):

@serenanymph

-

[yuyunhoes]

SPECTRE ─── I. STARDUST

summary: in which Felix has been recruited to be the new hero for District 9 while having to deal with a new issue about a missing teen escaping the district.

author's note: there might be some errors for i haven't proofread it yet so there will be some changes from time. likes and comments are very appreciated ^^

word count: 4.6k

♯bysephi | AO3 | YAP WITH ME | SEPHI'S WORKS | MAIN MENU

HEROES. At such a young age he was exposed to the idea that a superhuman being — they call it a hero — must be looked up as an aspiring model to do good things to others. It became a clear idea for Felix that heroes are the good people he should be looking up to— that someday he too, will be a hero for the society. The young child was amazed on how those superheroes risk their lives in order to have peace and order in the society and within the city. He began planning his life that he will be one of the heroes people will praise as they say his name. Eventually the gods must have heard his prayer when supernatural abilities came to life when he was seven years old— Felix was the happiest person on Earth.

At age eleven, Felix's abilities became a bit too powerful for him to control and even though there was his mother to guide him there will be an instance where it gets too much. When he entered high school, he became a bit distant to everyone with the excuse that he has strict rules implemented by his parents and that someone like him must oblige to do so. Or at least this is what Felix was told by his mother when a curious person is asked about his abilities. He was naive to ask about what or who he even is, Felix only did what he was told to do so.

Pride and selfishness begin to grow inside of the young child when he finds out he is able to figure out that he is able to read people’s minds. There was no way young Felix wasn't going to use that kind of ability.

When he graduated high school, Felix was given opportunities to a lot of universities because of his abilities. There was a start of realisation that something suspicious was going on but his mother told him to be grateful for the "opportunities" — Felix sees his mother quoting this word by the way — rarely come and go. Once again, Felix was obliged to do as his mother pleases. "If this is what mother would want to see, then so be it," he tells himself. Whenever he sees his family happy for everything he has achieved because of his abilities that quote and quote “a blessing from the gods” it makes Felix happy too. All he ever wanted is for his family to be happy with what he is.

When Felix entered the first year of college, there was a letter sent to the classroom where he is during History class. His name is written on the envelope in capital letters and bold. There were a lot of talks and reactions because once a student receives a letter inside the vicinity of the university it’s either you did something horrible or you’re getting into something. Felix opened the letter which was written by one of the current personnel of DIstrict 9. “Are you for real?” one of his professors asked him as if they were in disbelief that someone like Felix would be receiving a letter from District 9— who the fuck is Distric 9? After his last class on that day he went straight home and gave the letter to his mother who read his letter out loud. “Felix my goodness! This is a blessing from the heavens above!” his mother tells him and wrapped her arms around her son. His sisters rushed in to say ‘congratulations’— the thing is, Felix had accidentally linked his mind to their minds through psychic telekinesis and since then, he began pretending to everyone including his family.

A plastered smile on his face is already enough for them to believe in his words.

A month later he was taken to the building of District 9 with the same personnel who wrote the letter directly to him. There was a small smile on their face as they greeted Felix with open arms and congratulated him for getting accepted by District 9. He didn’t ask much of anything for he was again, too naive to know everything besides his abilities helped him to be what he is. He was taken to a room where there were four employees sitting across one another and he was introduced to them one by one and told him as to why he was told to come to their office. Felix remained naive to everything and there was no doubt on what was going on, besides this is what he always wanted as a kid.

His seven year old self would be happy that he is finally getting his plan in the palm of his hand as if the gods planned this all along. To be able to help those who are in need, to hear those people say his name like they're chanting it almost a prayer. He is definitely going to be District 9's god of salvation.

“You must be Felix, finally glad to meet you personally,” one of the employees said, extending their hand for a handshake.

“His name is not Felix anymore Joshua. He's Stardust from now on,” the other one spoke while giving a death glare to Joshua.

Felix gave them a sly smile as if to tell that's out of the context and get on with it. Pride begins to come out of its closet, his blue eyes glowed as he glanced at everyone in the room, linking his mind to theirs. His smile is still plastered on his face playing pretend to not know what is happening.

I thought you told Joshua about this. Minghao, a mortal who was forced by his parents to work on a job he hates.

What's a kid gotta do with the heroic thing? Seungcheol, another mortal who sneaks women in the building on every occasion.

Are you kidding me? A random kid? What are we a kid's show? Jihoon, a mortal who comes from a family of supernatural heroes who served District 9.

“I am not a kid,” says Felix out loud which caught the attention of the personnels in the office, a playful smirk came out of his lips as he puts his hands onto his back, tilting his head to the side as if he's being cocky— no, actually Felix is trying to get his ego big. Joshua nervously smiled back at him going back to his seat, eyes looking down at the documents on the table. His left foot tapping Seungcheol as if he's telling him to change the topic or get the tension. “I'm sorry my mind likes to tell me thoughts sometimes,” Felix explained, still having the playfulness on his face which again, caught everyone's attention and the tension intensified more.

His pride got hurt a little but his ego and selfishness are beginning to consume him like a virus. There is in no way Felix is letting this opportunity slip through his hand. He will be and will always be District 9's new salvation.

Two months later Felix woke up in the car wearing a superhero suit made and designed by District 9—it was a jumpsuit with red on top and yellow below along with a black belt on his hips and a pair of long black boots. His blonde hair was neatly combed and a small red headband is on top of his head to push his long hair to the back exposing his forehead. Felix turns to his right seeing his mother smiling at him as she holds her son's hand tight. There was an overwhelming sensation inside Felix as he was caught up by the media and press taking flashes and pictures of him coming out of the car, there were people gathering around to see him face to face.

He could hear the cheers of the children as they called his name, parents and elders clapping and cheering for him. Felix waves back at the crowd, his lips forming a wide smile. They were guided by the security and his manager, Seungcheol— the very same person and is one of those people who judged him too quickly and called him a kid. They were able to reach the location of a big arena where the crowd is getting bigger and the cheers are getting louder for him. “Please give us the way, thank you,” says Seungcheol as he opens the main door of the arena. Felix lets out a sigh of relief as they enter the area still having the overwhelming feeling with him. “Looks like it's bigger than we expected,” one of the staff said with a worried look on his face as if they weren’t expecting this to happen— or perhaps Felix knew they were expecting this but not this far. There was no reaction from Felix himself as he hears their conversation longer his arm clings to his mother’s hand tight, telling her a message that only she will only know.

The event’s theme is mostly focusing on Felix getting a warm welcome from District 9, the staff are explaining to Seungcheol about the flow of the program and how Felix will come to the stage as the star of the show. He checks his social media through his phone seeing his name trending along with news articles linking to his name— hero name rather. His lips twitched into a small smirk having that feeling of pride coming out of the shell once again like a bird spreading its wings. This is always what he wanted from the beginning and Felix is one step ahead of his ambition, Stardust began from dust turned into star of the show, one of the news headlines was written with his hero name on all capital letters to emphasise his existence. “Hey, Stardust right?” a man’s voice caught his attention, it was the person who called him by his real name when he entered the office of District 9— Joshua if he can remember it right.

“Everything okay?” he noticed the sweat on Joshua’s forehead as if he’s scared to say something especially that they’re in public.

“Of course! I’m— is it okay if we talk in private?” Joshua sounded almost like he was pleading to Felix, a timid smile appearing on his lips.

“Sure let me talk to Seung—”

“I already did! Sorry… that was a bad move from me. It won’t take long I promise,” Joshua interrupts him, almost shouting at Felix but he had controlled himself. Felix tried to read up his mind but there were a lot of thoughts running through Joshua’s mind and his ability couldn’t focus very well. Although, there was a name he keeps on saying in his head over and over again like a broken record— as if he doesn’t want to forget the name of whoever this person he met. “Okay let’s go,” Felix smiles back at him before excusing himself from the production, going to Seungcheol as well pointing to Joshua who somehow picks up what he meant to say and nods his head in response.

There was a sigh of relief from Joshua’s lips the moment they got out of the room as if he was not expecting Felix to agree but at the same time, he didn’t know Felix would agree to come with him. “I’m sorry if it sounds a bit of urgent, as you can see J— my boyfriend is not a fan of crowded places and this is the first time he's’ been to an event like this,” says Joshua— rather Joshua lied but he’s trying not to sound like he is definitely lying to Felix. The other latter nods his head in response, his eyes looking at their surroundings, checking to see any danger in case.

He doesn’t see Joshua that often in the office but they greet each other whenever they bump in the hallways and elevators. Some facts were from Seungcheol who has been his colleague for years— Felix couldn’t help but to be a little bit gossiper whenever Seungcheol talks about his colleague. “You and Seungcheol must be close,” Felix lifts up the mood between the two of them, charming up with a sweet smile from his lips— but are you?

“You can say that I guess… What did your manager say to you?”

“You just got promoted as a regular employee two years ago.”

“Oh that… Seungcheol didn’t say anything other than that?”

“You’re a clumsy, kiss-ass and good for nothing employee.”

“Really? He told you that?”

“He told me in my mind. I do mind reading, remember?”

Joshua chuckles a bit as if he had forgotten about Felix’s background or something, slapping his forehead with the palm of his hand and Felix asks if he is alright. There was a disbelief in Joshua’s face when he found out about Seungcheol telling Felix— it is more of backstabbing behind his back in Joshua’s perspective which is somehow right at some point. He immediately said yes to which Felix plays pretend to be oblivious to what is going on, the same name keeps repeating on his head over and over again. Even mentioning the name in their conversation but Joshua was too clever not to say the name but Felix had a hunch that whoever Jeonghan it has something to do on Joshua’s plan today.

Not far from where they are there stood a young man probably around Felix’s age holding an ID in his hand. His long hair is tucked up behind with his headband exposing the forehead, his black bag hanging loosely to his left shoulder, wearing a big knotted sweatshirt that covers his hands, red sweatpants and flat shoes. His eyes instantly look at Joshua as if he is asking for help the moment Felix saw him in person. Joshua nervously nods his head in response telling him an indirect message.

In Felix’s perspective, this Jeonghan man looked younger than him but he doubted he was a year or two years older than him. Never judge a book by its cover, they say and Felix is applying that saying.

“So this is the… uh… my boyfriend I am talking about. Jeonghan, it's Stardust!” Joshua declares his hand pointing to Jeonghan introducing the two to one another,

“Oh so this is Jeonghan you’re telling me in my mind,” says Felix, more like teasing Joshua to his boyfriend or at least this is what he had read in his mind as they walked outside of the room. Jeonghan nervously smiles at him and bows his head towards Felix.

“I’m sorry he’s a bit of a shy person but he wants to have an autograph from you,” Joshua spoke t9 Felix.

“Is this alright? Won’t people know this kind of thing?” Felix asks in concern, now beginning to have a fear inside him, hesitating to take the pen from Joshua’s hand. As someone who has power and on top like Felix himself, situations like this can happen behind the scenes— getting autographs or pictures before anyone else can. This is what those who got the VIP or are in this section get in every event they’re into. Felix had been there before when he saw his favourite band perform live in a big arena.

“I mean I have been there before but… did Seungcheol say it’s okay?” Felix asked for the second time this time he is looking for Joshua, looking for approval from himself.

“He hasn’t told you this kind of thing huh? Things like this happen— rich people things I guess,” Joshua comments with a small smile on his face to which Jeonghan agrees to it.

“If you say so then I might as well give your boyfriend my autograph— just autograph,” Felix tells the two of them before taking the pen from Joshua and his boyfriend takes out a notebook from his bag. “So your name’s Jeonghan huh?” Felix asks for confirmation from the latter, flashing a small yet devilish smile on his lips as if he is telling him that he knows something is up between the two of them. Felix tried to read his mind but just like Joshua, there were a lot of thoughts running through his head but this time, he tried another way to get into his mind. “Yeah… it’s Jeonghan,” he replied in return while his eyes glancing at Joshua.

Felix sees nothing but only one person the moment he gets into his mind, he is in a white room with no windows and doors to escape from whoever or whatever that will be chasing after him. He runs up to this person in hopes of catching whoever this is but the more he runs faster the farther the distance it gets to reach the person. “Hey come here! Face me coward,” Felix shouted on top of his lungs as he ran faster towards this person but it only got worse for him, giving no chance of catching the person.

“You can’t catch me, Stardust,” the person spoke while on the run from Felix, he did not sound like how Jeonghan spoke to him seconds ago. There was in no way or perhaps there is a way that Joshua’s boyfriend can mimic other people’s voices but who knows what. Felix fastens his speed and as they turn at the right corner the person is already gone leaving him in disbelief and anger. “Are you trying to read Jeonghan’s mind?’ a voice spoke to him teasing him after the chase going on, a burst of laughter comes next and Felix got pissed at the laughter,

“You’re not Jeonghan are you?”

“He’s just a vessel to me,” the voice answered.

“Vessel? What are you up to?”

“You’re just like me, Felix. You are me and I am you,” the voice spoke once again. “I am your soul.”

“Who are you? Are you Joshua? What do you want?”

“Jeonghan is my vessel… for now. You are me and I am you. You’re chasing me who is nothing but a portion of my soul attached to the Angel of Death,” the voice tells him and a burst of laughter fills the white room again. Felix runs again chasing after whoever the person is inside Jeonghan’s mind having the idea of Joshua’s boyfriend becoming a victim of some kind of gang or something. “You’ll never get me, Stardust,” it spoke to Felix for the last time before his body got dragged away from the room making Felix scream in surprise.

HIs breath hitched for a split second the moment he blinked his eyes and looked at both Jeonghan and Joshua who were concerned for him. Jeonghan’s hand gently taps his hand trying to get his thoughts back to reality to which he succeeded and a sigh of relief came out from his lips. “Are you okay? You seem lost all of a sudden,” Joshua expresses his concern towards him as he gently removes his boyfriend’s hand away from Felix’s. Jeonghan bows his head as he says his apology over and over to him and walks up to Joshua in fear, Felix shakes his hand telling him that everything is alright.

“I’m sorry Fe—Stardust this is all my fault. Can you wait for me here again?” Joshua turns to look at his boyfriend with a worried look on his face, Jeonghan nods his head in response but Felix stops the both of them before Joshua could do something “I said it’s okay! I just need to get out of here, I’m sorry,” it is more of a shout from Felix almost bursting out his feelings. Before Joshua could say something, security guards ran to the other side of the hallway talking to their walkie talkies. “What’s going on?” Jeonghan asks, having no clue on what is going on and so are the other two as well. There were some staff running after the guards as if they were going to help them in some kind of trouble.

Seungcheol calls his name out loud with an angry look on his face asking what took him so long of course Joshua defends the hero by taking the blame to him and apologising to his colleague many times. “Whatever Joshua we’ll talk about later, take your boyfriend to the security. He’s gonna be safe and you Stardust—” Seungcheol points his finger towards Felix, his eyebrows furrow in anger at his agent, having a short glance at Joshua’s boyfriend as if he’s starting to get suspicious before looking back to Felix.

“—come with me, the show is about to start, we need you to get ready,” Seungcheol adds, tugging his arm and taking him backstage, giving a glare to Joshua as if he is telling him something. Felix glances at his back trying to read Jeonghan one last time but his plan soon fails him in the end, the chance of knowing about him and this Angel of Death person is too late. Joshua says something to his boyfriend before taking him somewhere, wrapping his arm around Jeonghan.

That was the last time Felix had seen a man named Jeonghan who had suspicion that he is the Angel of Death that someone or something told him.

Felix’s eyes blink many times as the flashes of the cameras come after him, the number of questions being asked is increasing for the reason that the press and media are getting their interest and favour towards him. Seungcheol tries his best to answer all questions that are thrown at them, mostly to Felix who is the star of the show and District 9. It was in the deal they made earlier before the press conference started after the event “You let me answer the questions if you don’t know what it is. If you think you can then I am letting you do it but if you need help, as your manager I am willing to help you,” says Seungcheol during their deal to which Felix agreed without hesitations.

“Can I have a question for Stardust?” one of the reporters asks out loud, getting the attention of both Seungcheol and Felix, A man wearing a brown coat, a black turtleneck shirt, skinny jeans and Vans shoes. His hair is tucked behind with hair wax, he had an ear piercing on his left ear and was wearing a pair of glasses. Felix looks at his manager for approval to which he got it anyway and tells everyone to calm down so he can hear the question.

The man smiles in return and thanked him for the opportunity of getting noticed by Felix. “My name is Han, a news reporter from Daily News District. My question is, what can you contribute to society as the city’s new superhero?” the reporter asks with a genuine smile on his face, his hand ready to take down notes from hearing Felix’s answer to the question. Felix smiles at the media before taking a deep breath and answer the reporter’s question, “I, as Stardust, will make sure that I will be District 9’s favourite hero,” Seungheol’s eyes went wide to his answer as if he didn’t expect this answer to come out so easily especially from Felix who had just got in the District 9 as a new superhero.

The reporters look at each other with shock and whispers about his answer. Han, the reporter, smiles at him looking satisfied at the answer he got— he was amused in all honesty, “Thank you and I think you’re my favourite hero right now,” he tells Felix still having the smile on his face as if he is teasing him in public.

The reporters began raising their hands to ask more questions, calling Felix’s hero name from their lips, cameras clicking with flashes to get pictures of him. Seungcheol rolls his eyes at the sudden reaction of the press from Felix’s answer from the question but either way this is a one way ticket to the fame of District 9 and as long as he gets this fame, the better. Felix’s eyes got fixated on a man with his hands onto the pocket of his pants, the heels of his boots clicking the floor as he walked towards the microphone where the reporters can talk and ask questions, his bright red hair is starting to become the centre of attention.

Felix stood up from his seat as if he was hypnotised by this man walking towards him (not really close to him). Seungchcol tries to calm him down but he doesn’t know what and how to do so, his hand tugs his hero suit to sit him back on his chair but there was no use.

“We’re taking one last question— you with the weird red hair. What’s your question?” Seungcheol points to the red haired man who is at the microphone. The latter gave him a smile in response, Felix stood there still as he waited for the red haired man to speak. “My name is Hyunne, a reporter  from Daily News District. I have two questions. One, how can you tell the people of District 9 that you are their favourite hero? And two, what are you willing to do in order to save the people of District 9 as a hero?”

Hyunne flashes a smile on his lips towards Felix— it was sweet but there is something in that smile that the hero couldn't decipher. He tried to read up his mind to see if he could get anything but there was nothing. Felix feels as if he is blocked by this person in his mind or he knows about his ability and decides to block him off. Reporters gossiping to one another as they wait for Felix's response to the question thrown at him. Both of his palms began sweating profusely as he tried to think of a good answer, giving an impression to the public. The blonde asks for his pride to help him out not wanting to ruin his reputation for being just a stuck up hero and Mr. Know It All.

“I already told the people of District 9 who I am, didn't I? I am Stardust— someone who has the ability to save the city and is ready to die for his— my people. I was born from the ashes and will rise up until the day I turn back into ashes once more.”

Complete utter silence filled the entire conference room followed the cameras stopped clicking with their flashes on. Felix felt all eyes were on him as they paused from whatever they were doing, not knowing what to say about his answer to the question earlier. He didn't hide himself for a hero like himself isn't a coward — Felix would smash his head if he becomes a coward — it is more of a pride of his trying to show people this is who he is. His lips twitched into a prideful smile that surprised everyone in the room— this made the reporter, Hyunne smile back at him but his smile is different. He knew it was genuine but Felix can't tell if it is genuine as he thinks, besides this reporter blocked him so he can't tell what's up on his mind.

“I— we expect good things from you, Stardust.”

The moment the reporter turns his back his eyes look at Han who is sitting at the chair and when he looks back at the red haired man, a moment of disbelief and shock comes to him as if he had expected this to happen but didn't know that he would do it today. “Okay, ringleader,” was all Han could ever say before disappearing in the midst of the crowds with him.

On the other side of the story, a news report about a group of outsiders raiding the laboratory of District 9 leaving 20 dead and ten injured during a shoot out. The culprits are now identified and their faces are shown on television.

However, they didn't tell the news about a missing teenage boy from the laboratory.

WHERE TO READ! | ACT ONE: DISTRICT 9 | II. REAL OR NOT REAL

[atotc-weekly]

Book the First—Recalled to Life

[X] Chapter I. The Period

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France. In both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that things in general were settled for ever.

It was the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five. Spiritual revelations were conceded to England at that favoured period, as at this. Mrs. Southcott had recently attained her five-and-twentieth blessed birthday, of whom a prophetic private in the Life Guards had heralded the sublime appearance by announcing that arrangements were made for the swallowing up of London and Westminster. Even the Cock-lane ghost had been laid only a round dozen of years, after rapping out its messages, as the spirits of this very year last past (supernaturally deficient in originality) rapped out theirs. Mere messages in the earthly order of events had lately come to the English Crown and People, from a congress of British subjects in America: which, strange to relate, have proved more important to the human race than any communications yet received through any of the chickens of the Cock-lane brood.

France, less favoured on the whole as to matters spiritual than her sister of the shield and trident, rolled with exceeding smoothness down hill, making paper money and spending it. Under the guidance of her Christian pastors, she entertained herself, besides, with such humane achievements as sentencing a youth to have his hands cut off, his tongue torn out with pincers, and his body burned alive, because he had not kneeled down in the rain to do honour to a dirty procession of monks which passed within his view, at a distance of some fifty or sixty yards. It is likely enough that, rooted in the woods of France and Norway, there were growing trees, when that sufferer was put to death, already marked by the Woodman, Fate, to come down and be sawn into boards, to make a certain movable framework with a sack and a knife in it, terrible in history. It is likely enough that in the rough outhouses of some tillers of the heavy lands adjacent to Paris, there were sheltered from the weather that very day, rude carts, bespattered with rustic mire, snuffed about by pigs, and roosted in by poultry, which the Farmer, Death, had already set apart to be his tumbrils of the Revolution. But that Woodman and that Farmer, though they work unceasingly, work silently, and no one heard them as they went about with muffled tread: the rather, forasmuch as to entertain any suspicion that they were awake, was to be atheistical and traitorous.

In England, there was scarcely an amount of order and protection to justify much national boasting. Daring burglaries by armed men, and highway robberies, took place in the capital itself every night; families were publicly cautioned not to go out of town without removing their furniture to upholsterers’ warehouses for security; the highwayman in the dark was a City tradesman in the light, and, being recognised and challenged by his fellow-tradesman whom he stopped in his character of “the Captain,” gallantly shot him through the head and rode away; the mail was waylaid by seven robbers, and the guard shot three dead, and then got shot dead himself by the other four, “in consequence of the failure of his ammunition:” after which the mail was robbed in peace; that magnificent potentate, the Lord Mayor of London, was made to stand and deliver on Turnham Green, by one highwayman, who despoiled the illustrious creature in sight of all his retinue; prisoners in London gaols fought battles with their turnkeys, and the majesty of the law fired blunderbusses in among them, loaded with rounds of shot and ball; thieves snipped off diamond crosses from the necks of noble lords at Court drawing-rooms; musketeers went into St. Giles’s, to search for contraband goods, and the mob fired on the musketeers, and the musketeers fired on the mob, and nobody thought any of these occurrences much out of the common way. In the midst of them, the hangman, ever busy and ever worse than useless, was in constant requisition; now, stringing up long rows of miscellaneous criminals; now, hanging a housebreaker on Saturday who had been taken on Tuesday; now, burning people in the hand at Newgate by the dozen, and now burning pamphlets at the door of Westminster Hall; to-day, taking the life of an atrocious murderer, and to-morrow of a wretched pilferer who had robbed a farmer’s boy of sixpence.

All these things, and a thousand like them, came to pass in and close upon the dear old year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five. Environed by them, while the Woodman and the Farmer worked unheeded, those two of the large jaws, and those other two of the plain and the fair faces, trod with stir enough, and carried their divine rights with a high hand. Thus did the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five conduct their Greatnesses, and myriads of small creatures—the creatures of this chronicle among the rest—along the roads that lay before them.

[usaigi]

💕🏳️‍🌈 For the media hyperfixation asks!

YES THIS IS THE ONE I WANTED ILY TY

💕 tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them!

Mateo Murdock 🥺 He's cute, angsty, funny, a hot mess, witty, mommy and daddy issues and has the mental illness sparkle ✨ Something about a character so filled with rage and hurt and so dedicated to help others. Mhm martyrs.. He and Loki were my first MCU blorbos and while I still like Loki, he's lost his blorbo status in my heart. He's my number one.

🏳‍🌈 do you have any headcanons (lgbt, race, neuro, etc) that are important to you? (I got this one twice so I'm going to split up my response, here's the other half)

Heroes for Hire + contractors MK and Layla & Kingpin Felicia Hardy

Colleen - Her mom is Okinawan w/ connection to K'un-Lun/the mystical cities/Seven Capital Cities of Heaven and dad is born and raised in Hawaii with chinese, filipino, korean, japanese, white, hawaiian ancestry. Colleen being Okinawan and growing up in Hawaii exposed her to how indigenous people are treated like second class citizens on their own land and how outsiders/colonizers exploit the land and its resources and that why she's so protective of the K'un-Lun/mystical cities. Also she's a lesbian for Misty

Danny - Half white, half chinese. Some family and business partners and other rich people from Rand's side thought Danny's mom was a foreign gold digger but her family is China Rich™ British boarding school, met Wendell at fancy Ivy League etc. and still not "like them" So when Danny was born, he got exposed to a lot of racism and specifically Sinophobia/anti-Chinese comments all through childhood

And ADHD King 🏃 undiagnosed though, all his sifus thought he just liked to jump.

Claire - Afro-Latina (canon) Did I make this up or does Claire talk about experiencing a lot of anti-blackness growing up? Anyways, if that's canon, cool!(not that anti-blackness in the latine community is cool but for Netflix to acknowledge that's something afro-Latinos often experience) If not, it's canon now.

Matt - Mexican Matt etc etc. i know u know this by now but also trans masc Matt who thought he used to be a lesbian and is now a straight cis passing white passing guy despite being disabled poc and queer and the identity and religious meltdown he must have had when he went to college. Also I changed my mind, I do like BPD Matt

Jessica - wonder bread white but she's like self aware about it. She brings a store bought cake to the office potluck. She keeps her mouth closed when the others wash their chicken in the sink. PTSD is canon but I also think she has DPDR. Also Bi.

send me a ask about my media hyperfixation

[archivist-crow]

The Immortal Iron Fist - issues #8-14 - “The Seven Capital Cities of Heaven” (2006-2007)

The second arc is where everything comes together. Called back to his adopted home of K’un-Lun, Danny soon discovers that there are other mystical cities, each with their own warrior champion. Every 88 years, the champions of each city must compete in a tournament to determine the order in which the cities will appear on earth. Besides the tournament, Danny must also rescue a kidnapped friend, discovers a conspiracy to destroy K’un-Lun, and must learn the secrets of his new abilities and his father’s legacy.

Brubaker, Fraction, and Aja really deliver the goods. In an Enter the Dragon style tournament, the Iron Fist is matched up against the Immortal Weapons of each city: Fat Cobra, The Bride of Nine Spiders, Dog Brother #1, Tiger’s Beautiful Daughter, the mysterious Prince of Orphans, and the new champion, Danny’s nemesis, The Steel Serpent. Taking a cue from kung fu movies, Aja incorporates the names of strikes—with names like Whirlwind of Impending Doom, The Black Milk of Hell, and Jawsnapper in Twilight—into some beautifully wrought fight scenes. Aja’s work here is stunning, with amazing graphic techniques to emphasize the action. However, he is a bit inconsistent, in the sense that throughout the arc he doesn’t always draw the present tense scenes. Towards the end of the arc, Kano ably fills in, though I still don’t know why.

With some help from his friends—Luke Cage, Misty Knight, and Colleen Wing—and the other Immortal Weapons, Danny foments a revolution, takes on Hydra, and learns what it means to be the Iron Fist.

It is an incredible arc, and the run could have ended quite satisfactorily with issue #14. But with his newfound knowledge and enlightenment, there is a bit more for Danny to do.

2/3

[desiderium-eden]

Aionitas

Aionitas, or the Divine Gardens, is a small island nation said to be founded on land blessed by the gods. The "evidence" of which being the Springs of Eternity, a water source within the mountain rumored to be the heart and blood of a slain goddess. The waters have powerful healing properties. So great that enough can grant eternal youth or immortality. A belief given some credit due to how the seven Aeons haven't aged in centuries. (The only recorded deaths being of unnatural means.)

The nation acts as a holy land of sorts. Said to be a land with strong spiritual connections to the gods or the heavens, given that Aionitas contains many smaller islands that just float around the main one. Held up by an unknown power. Due to this, much of their economy is in tourism. With many people traveling to the capital whether it be to seek healing or a spiritual journey.

Aionitas mainly operates under the Divine Scales, or Heavenly Judge. But Kronoe, the capital city and location of the Springs of Eternity, is separated into districts that represent the various gods of the world. Each district housing a large temple and followers that are allowed to practice according to their doctrines so long as they don't contradict the laws of Aionitas. Each district isgoverned by the highest order of their respective priesthoods but while they are equal in power to each other, they are still beneath the Aeons, the ruling class of the nation as a whole.

Each leader has access to a small ration of the healing spring water and is able to request more for emergencies. The temples also act as museums, housing many religious artifacts of their respective religions.

Aeons:

The Aeons are seven people, supposedly chosen by the Divine Scales that run Aionitas as a whole. Though their business usually centers around Kronoe. Marked with a seal in the shape of a wing somewhere on their bodies that appears when the previously chosen Aeon has died. Current Aeons: - Khashia: leader; highest ranked among the priesthood of the Divine Scales - Armaros: in charge of maintaining relationships between diplomats and the different factions/religions in Kronoe - Julius: co-head of the order of knights tasked with policing Kronoe; also in charge with punishing criminals - Shayal: a dog...; the family of the previous Aeon handles maintenance and infrastructure of the city - Erislyn: co-head of the Kronoe knights; deals more with defense than crime - Dorian: in charge of the national budget and treasury; trade as well - Lorelai: the youngest; in charge of distributing the spring waters as well as coordinating other efforts in regards to healing and welcoming travelers Other Notable Figures: - Illarion Starkov: A Navkan priest and the representative of the Temple of Irae and Seren.