#v. seraphic remains

[humanmutate]

tbhhh tbh looks at my caligo city guys i need to get back on that. that and i need to better plan out my weird industrial but also kinda futuristic in some cities but essentially post apocalyptic in others universe where everyone wears masks for what ever fuckijg reason

[raw-lesbian-energy]

Attention

Summary: Seraph is busy with work, but V wants her attention.

Fandom: Murder Drones (The Explorer Drone AU)

Pairing: Sera-V

Features: Self-Insert Character

Word Count: 2,212

Warnings: This is a tickle fic! If that’s not your thing, just keep scrolling.

—————————————————————

It was a quiet night in Seraph’s housing unit, the explorer drone seated at her desk with her tablet and a stack of papers. She was once again grading student assignments, carefully scanning over each art piece before filling out the digital rubric and moving on.

It was tedious and time-consuming work, but it was something Seraph had grown accustomed to. Plus, she was able to find some joy in it when she noticed one of the students listening to her suggestions and making improvements. Of course, there were still some who refused to properly try, happy to skim through with barely passing grades just to be able to graduate.

A grimace found its’ way to her face as Seraph marked off Darren’s assignment, filling out his rubric before a low groan reached her audio receptors. Her gaze flicked to the ceiling, figuring one of the pipes was settling until her bedroom’s vent grate swung open and a figure dropped in. Seraph snapped up as the sudden visitor landed elegantly on her bed, hardly making a sound as she sat down and kicked her legs over the side.

“Hey, Seraph~” She said, grinning widely. Seraph’s expression quickly turned annoyed.

“V, I told you not to just show up through the vents.” She scolded. “What if I had someone else in here?”

“Free food, I guess.” V replied, still grinning. Seraph annoyed look only deepened, but she simply sighed and leaned one arm against the back of her chair.

“What are you even doing here?” She asked. V merely shrugged.

“Got bored.” She answered bluntly. “N’s asleep, so I’ve got time.” Seraph’s expression changed slightly, seeming less annoyed before turning her attention back to the papers in front of her.

“Well, unfortunately, I’m currently grading papers.” She told her. “So you’ll have to wait until I’m done.” V’s grin faded immediately, and she flopped onto her side on Seraph’s bed.

“Oh come on,” she groaned, “grading papers is boring! Come have fun with me!” Seraph’s processors halted momentarily as a few ideas for ‘fun’ slipped through them, but she shook her head.

“Sorry V, this can’t wait.” She said firmly. “I need to have these all graded by tomorrow.” V’s tail flicked in irritation, a loud sigh escaping her as she rolled onto her back.

“Seriously?” She complained. “It’s Just a bunch of papers! Who cares?”

“The school board.” Seraph replied, not even glancing at her. “And I have to, if I want to keep my job.”

“Well, if I cared about my job, you’d be an oil splatter on the wall right now.” V countered, turning her head and grinning wickedly. Seraph stopped her movements momentarily, the image flashing across her internal screen before she spoke.

“Touché.” She admitted, a sigh following. “Look, I’m about two-thirds done, I just need twenty minutes and then we can do whatever you want.” V perked up slightly at the offer, rolling fully onto her side as her eyes remained focused on the explorer drone. One minute passed, then two, and soon V came to the conclusion that twenty minutes was still too long to wait.

“This is boring.” She whined. Seraph didn’t even look up.

“Then go find something to do.” She said in a deadpan tone. V pouted once more before jumping off of Seraph’s bed, moving right up to the brunette’s side.

“But I want to do something with you!” She grinned, trying to convince her. “Come on, you know you hate this stuff. The stupid school board doesn’t have to know!”

“V, seriously-YEE!” Seraph’s annoyed tone turned to a surprised squeak as V had tried to grab her arm, the murder drone’s fingers accidentally grazing her ribs. The reaction caused V’s eyes to widen, while an embarrassed blush started to form on Seraph’s visor. This stirred a memory in V’s processors, soon realizing what was going on and turning her confused expression into a wicked grin.

“Seraph~” The teasing tone in V’s voice was more than enough and Seraph shoved off her desk, launching herself clean across the room. V grinned excitedly and dove after her, barely missing the explorer drone as she leapt from her chair and rushed out the door.

“Get back here!” V shouted, her hunting programs kicking in as she gave chase. Seraph didn’t even look back as she ran into the main room, sliding under the dining table in a quick attempt to hide. A few seconds passed before claws reached around the underside of the table, earning a startled gasp and sending Seraph rushing out from the other side. V had been hoping for this, however, her tail rushing down and wrapping around Seraph’s ankle before she could get away.

“WH-oomph!” Seraph hit the ground as she was tripped, barely managing to roll over before V pounced on her. Her visor held that iconic ‘X’ before switching back to her usual eyes, but her sinister grin remained.

“Nice try~” She purred as she straddled Seraph’s hips. “I appreciate the little hunt, though~” Seraph opened her mouth to protest, but quickly snapped shut as the tips of V’s claws gently glided down her side. The action sent a rush of tingles through her nerve system, her body twitching as she clamped her hands over her mouth.

“Oh no, you’re not holding out on me~” V spoke as her tail unwound from Seraph’s ankle, her claws changing back to her normal hands and snagging the brunette’s wrists. Seraph tried to hold her arms in place, but V was much stronger and easily pulled them over her head, securing them with her tail so she couldn’t pull them down again.

“V, c-come on!” Seraph managed, a small blush tinting the edges of her visor. “I still have-EEP!” She quickly snapped her mouth shut as V gently wiggled her fingers over her stomach, causing her to squirm.

“Ooh, does someone have a ticklish belly?~” V cooed. “Come on, you’re only making this worse for yourself~ I’ll find the spot that breaks you one way or another~” Her tone caused Seraph’s blush to increase, her eyes shutting as she clenched her jaw to hold back her giggles. Her feet kicked and pushed against the floor, trying to worm her way out from under V, but she didn’t have the strength with the tickling distracting her.

V wasn’t making it easy, either. She moved from Seraph’s stomach to her sides, swirling her fingers in a way that made the explorer drone squeak and thrash. She bit her lip to try and hold her laughter back, but a wobbly smile stretched across her face as she was already starting to near her breaking point.

“Aww, are you gonna laugh?~” V continued teasing as she crept her hands up to Seraph’s ribs. “I just know you’re about to break~ Maybe I should try right… here!~” In a flash, she started spidering her fingers up and down her ribs, catching Seraph by surprise and causing her to squeal. The tickling quickly spread through her nerve system and she started laughing, tossing her head back and kicking her feet against the floor.

“Nooohohoho-haha!” She cried. “V-hehehee!” The murder drone’s grin stretched wide across her face in triumph, her fingers continuing to dance over Seraph’s ribs and earning more laughter.

“There you go!~” She said in a teasingly sweet voice. “Aww, look at you~ You’re just a giggly mess, all from a little tickling~” Seraph’s laughter shot up in pitch in response, a steady line of blush covering the bottom half of her visor.

“Don’t tehehease! Hahaha!” She squealed, trying to hide her face in her arm. “I stihihill have-haha! H-Hahahave wohork to dohoho!” Her pleas were unsurprisingly ignored, as V kept tickling up and down her ribs to find which spots were more sensitive.

“Nope, no work.” She replied simply. “You chose work over me, so now you face the consequences~” She slipped one hand closer to Seraph’s shoulder joint, her fingers grazing under it and earning a loud shriek of laughter.

“NOHOHahAha nahat thehehere!” Seraph howled, her laughter turning into cackling. V took note of the almost psychotic sound that her laugh held, finding it rather endearing and wanting to hear more.

“Not where?~” She replied, acting oblivious. “You mean here?~” She moved both hands up and started tickling under Seraph’s shoulder joints, earning more hysterical cackles. The explorer drone was slamming her feet against the floor at this point, tossing her head from side to side as the tickling overwhelmed her nerve system.

“V-HEHEHAHAHAA!” Seraph’s laughter echoed throughout the unit, her visor glowing from her blush and a wide grin spread across her face. V wound up staring at her for a moment, a faint blush dusting her own visor before she collected herself and chuckled.

“Seems I’ll have to keep a memory file on this spot~” She mused, continuing to trace and tickle under her shoulder joint. “Especially if it allows me to hear your adorable laugh~” Much to her surprise, Seraph shook her head even faster in disagreement.

“IHIHIT’S NAHAHAAT!” She managed, causing V’s eyes to widen. A spark of challenge went off in her processors, and she pressed her fingers a bit harder against the sensitive spot.

“Are you really trying to argue with me right now?” She questioned. “Maybe I’ll just have to keep tickling you until you admit your laugh is cute~” She didn’t give Seraph a chance to respond as she sped up her movements, skittering under her shoulder joints and over her ribs in a full-on tickle attack. A loud shriek escaped Seraph’s voice box as a result, soon dissolving into frantic cackling and thrashing.

“NAAAHAHAHAHAHA V-HEHEHEE!!” She could hardly speak from how hard she was laughing, her visor practically glowing from her blush. V could feel her trying to pull her arms out from her tail’s grip, prompting her to tighten her hold just a bit more.

“All you have to do is admit it and I’ll let you go~” V practically singsonged as she kept tickling, keeping note of which spots got stronger reactions and focusing on them. Despite how hard she was laughing, Seraph seemed determined to hold out, not wanting to give in and tell V what she wanted to hear. It was clear her nerve system was getting overstimulated though, as her visor briefly flashed with a warning symbol that prompted V to slow down.

“Wow, you’d rather face overstimulation than admit it?” She said, both impressed and concerned. Her hands remained still over Seraph’s ribs, but the explorer drone was still able to calm down and catch her breath.

“My… m-my laugh is not adorable.” She managed, panting. “A-And you started this! I was just trying to do my work, but you pulled me away from it!” V’s expression quickly turned to a pout.

“Oh come on, you and I both know this is more fun than work!” She argued. Seraph opened her mouth to protest, but her voice box failed and she blushed again. She shut her mouth and turned her gaze to the side, the silent action telling V all she needed to know.

“See? You agree with me.” She said, a smug grin crossing her face. Seraph’s blush worsened further, but she let out a small sigh and looked back up at V.

“Okay, yeah, I do.” She admitted. “But I still have work to finish, V.” The murder drone gained a look of annoyance, clearly not happy with Seraph’s response. The brunette felt the hands on her ribs twitch slightly, and she realized she had to act fast.

“Look, I’ll be as quick as I can!” She tried. “And once it’s done, I can give you all the attention you want! Promise!” V’s hands remained still again, and she quirked an eyebrow while scanning Seraph’s face.

“You promise?” She pushed. Seraph quickly nodded, a slightly nervous expression crossing her features before she felt V’s tail loosen. Her arms were soon freed, and V slid off of her to allow the explorer drone to get back to her feet.

“Fine, but you better be quick.” V told her, standing up. Seraph got up off the floor and gave her a thankful smile.

“I will.” She assured her. “I’ll be no more than fifteen minutes.” V still held an annoyed expression, but she nodded once, reluctantly agreeing. Seraph felt a wave of relief at this, her smile growing.

“Oh, I’m locking the door though.”

By the time V processed what Seraph had said, the explorer had already rushed back into her room, the door shutting behind her. V ran up and tried to pry it open, but it held firm, proving she’d been too late.

“Seraph!” She shouted, hearing the brunette’s laughter on the other side. She let out a growl before folding her arms, glaring through the small window on the steel door.

“If you’re not out in fifteen minutes, I’m coming back through the vents!” She warned. Seraph only giggled in response, but she knew better than to test V and quickly got back to work. She pulled up the next assignment and got to grading, one thought hanging at the back of her processors as she did.

She definitely hoped V would want attention more often.

[mewling-central]

Introduction to Collective Seraphic

Now that Seraphic's at a stable place, I think I'm gonna take some time to delve into the basics of how it operates. For this post I'll only be going into the language itself and not the writing system, as that's going to need a post of its own to elaborate on. I'll try to keep this as concise as possible, but I may make separate posts expanding on topics discussed in this one. So, without further ado, onto the infodump!

Background

Collective Seraphic (which I'll be referring to as "Seraphic") is an artlang that I've created for a comic that as of this post I have not began yet, but am still developing. The majority of the comic will take place on the Seraph Homeworld, an alien planet some 3,000 lightyears from Earth populated by the seraph species (pictured below):

Within the story, Seraphic acts as the lingua franca of the Seraph Homeworld and the many colonized planets under Seraph control. It's used in the government, and among speakers of differing languages. As such, this language was the first one that I knew I would need to make as it will play a vital role in both the storytelling and narrative structure.

Syntax

Seraphic is largely a fusional language, employing affixes to modify the semantic role and meaning of morphemes. Seraphic does not, in the traditional sense, have verbs, so the sentence structure is strictly subject-object (will expand upon later). Nouns decline for number and tense, and are grouped into seven noun classes. Adjectives agree with nouns in number, except if derived from nouns themselves, in which case they'll also agree in class. Seraphic is very head-initial; with demonstratives, numerals, possesives, adjectives, genitives, and relative clauses following the noun the modify; and prepositions preceeding the nouns they modify. Auxiliaries preceed procedurals (again, will expand upon later).

Phonology

Here is the phonological chart for Seraphic:

It has a syllable structure of (CC)V(CC). Plosives cannot exist word finally, clusters of consonants of the same manner are illegal, and vowel clusters are also not permitted. Syllabic consonants are grouped with vowels and behave much like them, carrying tone and stress, so they together are grouped and referred to as vocalics. Seraphic is a tonal language, employing the use of four tones: rising (á), falling (à), high (ā), and low (a). Low tones remained unmarked in both the Seraphic script and in romanization. Stress is syllable-independant. It will take either the ultimate, penultimate, or rarely the antepenultimate. Stress always falls on the syllable with a voiceless initial obstruent nearest to the end of the word. If none are available, it will fall on the syllable with an initial sonorant within the same parameters. Stress will never fall on a voiced obstruent. For clarity, I'll provide a key describing the pronunciation of the romanization.

Sounds that are similarly pronounced as they're read in American English:

m, n, p, b, t, d, k, g, f, v, s, z, y, w, l

Sounds that have special pronunciations:

ŋ, like the ng in English "sing"

p', like the ጴ in Amharic "ጴጥሮስ"

t', like the t' in Navajo "yá'át'ééh"

k', like the კ in Georgian "კაბა"

', like the the space within English "uh-oh"

c, like the sh in English "sharp"

j, like the s in English "measure"

x, like the gh in English "ugh"

ğ, like the γ in Greek "γάλα"

pf, like the pf in German "Pfirsiche"

ts, like the z in Italian "grazia"

tc, like the ch in English "chain"

kx, like the kh in Lakota "lakhóta"

r, like the rr in Spanish "perro", although occasionally like the r in Spanish "amarillo"

i, like the ee in English "meet"

į, like the ы in Russian "ты"

u, like the oo in English "boot"

e, like the é in French "beauté"

œ, like the a in English "Tina"

o, like the o in Classical Latin "sol"

a, like the a in English "bra" although this can change to be more forward or more backward.

Another letter that might trip people up is ł, which is meant to represent the high tone syllabic 'l'. Otherwise, syllabics are written the same as their pulmonic counterparts, with tone markers written when applicable.

Nouns

Nouns make up the bulk of the Seraphic lexicon. Every noun is grouped into one of seven classes:

Solar class: nouns related to seraphim or seraph-like beings, and seraph body parts. Prefix appears as zā-, zō-, zē-, s-, or ts-.

sēr = "person"

Astral class: nouns related to non-seraph animate lifeforms (their equivalent to "animals"). Prefix appears as ğr-, x, or kx-.

xuc = "cherub"

Vital class: nouns related to inanimate lifeforms (their equivalent to "plants"). Prefix appears as wā-, wō, w-, ū-, wē-, or wī-.

wējlux = "tree"

Terranean class: nouns related to landscapes, locations, and natural phenomena. Prefix appears as va-, vo-, vu-, f-, and pf-.

voxāl = "sun"

Metallic class: nouns related to inanimate objects, both natural and artificial. Prefix appears as ja-, jo-, c-, or tc-.

jağrú = "rock"

Lunar class: nouns related to abstract concepts, and terms related to time. Prefix appears as la-, lo-, le-, li-, y-, or l/ł-.

levren = "job"

Oceanic class: nouns related to general words, tangible concepts, numbers, all adjectives, and non-incorporated loanwords. Prefix appears as a/ā-, o/ō-, or aw-.

awuf = "group"

Adjectives do not agree in class, due to the fact that nouns originally are derived from adjectives, and noun classes acted as a way to differentiate between nouns and adjectives.

fa = "warm, hot"

jafa = "fire" (lit. "a hot thing")

When adjectives are used as predicatives, they decline into the oceanic class in order to take the procedurals (once more, will expand upon later).

Nouns also decline for four numbers: singular (one thing, usually unmarked), dual (two things, both things; suffixes as -ac, -oc, -œc, or -c), plural (things, many thing; suffixes as -n, -an, or -in), and collective (every thing, all things; suffixes as -āf/ōf, -áf/-óf, or -'ōf).

Seraphic doesn't use pronouns. Everything and everyone is referred to by name, including yourself. From our perspective, the Seraphic language constantly speaks in the third person. However, it can be repetitive to use the same name over and over again in a sentence, and sometimes you don't know the name of things, so they'll apply what I've called pro-forms. They consist of the demonstrative adjectives fl "this", sl "that", and xl "yon" declined into the Solar class and taking the place of the first, second, and third person respectively. For ease of reference, I'll provide the forms and their declensions below.

zāfl (I/me), zāflc (both of us), zāvlin (we/us), zāfláf (all of us)

zāsl (you), zāslc (both of you), zāzlin (you guys), zāsláf (all of you)

zōxl (they), zōxlc (both of them), zōğlin (many of them), zōxláf (all of them)

Seraphic makes no distinction in the gender of the speaker, in this regard. Although these resemble pronouns, they're not meant to be used as often as regular pronouns, and whenever possible it's much preferred that you refer to someone or something by name.

Adjectives and Prepositions

Adjectives are fairly straightforward. Adjectives follow the noun they modify (e.g. sēr tan "big person"), and agree with them in number (e.g. sēr tan "big person" vs sērn t'aŋon "big people"). Adjectives agree in the singular form with singular and collective nouns, and they agree in the plural form with dual and plural nouns.

There are three main types of adjectives: native adjectives (e.g. cna "good"), borrowed adjectives (e.g. anzn "nice"), and noun-derived adjectives (e.g. arfi/ofi "new"). Native and borrowed adjectives don't agree with noun classes, but noun-derived adjectives do. It originated from the animacy-based adjective agreement system in Proto-Seraphic, which has been lost in all other adjective instances. When you want to make a noun into an adjective you'll affix one of two prefixes to it: ar- (if agreeing with Solar, Astral, and Vital nouns) and o- (if agreeing with Terranean, Metallic, Lunar, and Oceanic nouns). There are specific rules on the forms each prefix takes based on the noun they're attached to:

"ār-" when preceeding high or falling vocalic syllables (e.g. sēr ārzājna "popular person")

"ar-" when preceeding low or rising vocalic syllables (e.g. wēn arfe "local fruit")

"ó-" when preceeding high or falling vocalic syllables (e.g. lalel ówē "grassy flavor")

"o-" when preceeding low or falling vocalic syllables (e.g. lesar olvulvren "economic problem")

"ōw-" when preceeding words that start with a vocalic (e.g. lnin ōwāsāvbas "momentary event")

Prepositions occur before the nouns they modify, and don't change form in any circumstance. There are currently 19 prepositions in the modern language, and they are usually connected to nouns via a hyphen (e.g. e-fe "at (the) place"):

cu = of; indicates possession

pr̄ = indicates the indirect object, equivalent to "to" in the phrase "The man sends the letter to me."

in/īn = as or like; indicates similarity or resemblance. Will either be low or high tone depending on the tone of the following syllable.

e/ē = at or on; indicates location.

tsa = near or for; indicates relative distance from a location or an action performed for the sake of the referent.

cni = without; indicates a lack of possession or company.

wa = in or inside of; indicates interior position.

tn = on top of, above, or before; indicates superior position or a prior instance in time.

pux = under, beneath, or after; indicates inferior position or a following instance in time.

pi = with, together with; indicates being in company of or making use of the referent.

fān = from or away from; indicates the motion of leaving the referent.

ku = out of; indicates motion from within the referent towards the exterior.

tun = into or through; indicates motion from outside the referent towards the interior.

xel = to or towards; indicates the motion of approaching the referent.

kxun = across; indicates motion from one location to another

pn̄ = around; indicates location surrounding the referrent.

cāza = between; indicates location in the middle of the referrent.

tē = after, behind; indicates posterior position.

fr = during; indicates a moment in time

Prepositions aren't combined in Collective Seraphic, but may be in certain instances in colloquial speech.

Procedurals

Okay, this is probably the most complicated part of Seraphic, so I'm going to need to get into things individually. First, I'll start with defining a procedural itself. Procedurals are the term I use for the prefixes used to describe the relationship or process of and between the agent noun and the patient noun. These are what act as the equivalent to "verbs" in earth languages. There are three in use:

Existential: used to denote a state of being or equivalence between agent and patient, or to the patient and itself. Equivalent to English "to be" (e.g. A is B, there is B). Usually prefixes as some variant of n-, m-, or ŋ-.

Actional: used to denote an action or process between the agent and patient, or with the patient and itself. Equivalent to English "to do" or "to act upon" (e.g. A acts upon B). Carries a connotation of agency and intent. Usually prefixes as some variant of re-, ra-, or r-.

Resultative: used to denote an occurence or change in state between agent and patient, or patient and itself. Equivalent to English "to become", "to happen", or "to change into" (e.g. A becomes B, B happens to A). Carries a connotation of passiveness or motion. Usually prefixes as some varient of ed- or ez-.

The procedural will change its form slightly depending on the class and declension pattern of the noun it modifies. It always affixes to the patient noun, demonstrating a relationship of an action and what is being acted upon. In this way, the patient can be clearly identified. In transitive or causative clauses, the word order is always S(P)O, with the agent acting as the subject and the patient as the object. In intransitive and passive clauses, the word order is always (P)S, with the patient acting as the subject and the agent demoted to the indirect object or omitted entirely.

Although seemingly limiting, using these three procedural, as well as prepositions, nouns, and adjectives, altogether can be used to make all sorts of verb equivalents that are called "procedural phrases". I'll demonstrate how to build a sentence now. First thing we need to know is the subject and object:

Sāx ... jafa (The child ... the fire)

Next, I'll add the actional procedural in the present tense to this.

Sāx rejafa (The child acts upon the fire)

By itself this is technically grammatically correct, but it doesn't really mean anything. It's too broad. So we add a prepositional phrase to specify exactly what action the child is taking towards the fire.

Sāx pi-sīman rejafa (The childs acts upon the fire with (their) eyes)

Now we know that the child is performing an action involving the use of their eyes. Now of course this could mean many different things in English, but in Seraphic the first thing that comes to mind would be fairly obvious: to see! Thus, "Sāx pi-sīman rejafa" would be the same as saying "The child sees the fire" in English! There are a lot of set phrases that equate to verbs, and remain consistent in their arrangement. Often differing phrases are a useful way to ascertain where someone is from or what their first language is.

Tense and Aspect

Seraphic has six main tenses: two pasts, two presents, and two futures. The two pasts consist of the recent past (happening recently) and the remote past (happening a long time ago), and they prefix and/or combine with the procedural.

Sāx pi-sīman ğrejafa (The child just saw the fire)

Sāx pi-sīman eğrejafa (The child saw the fire a while ago)

Similarly, the future tenses consist of the near future (will happen soon) and the distant future (will happen eventually).

Sāx pi-sīman drejafa (The child will soon see the fire)

Sāx pi-sīman izrejafa (The child will eventually see the fire)

The present tenses consist of a general present tense (happens) and the infinitive (to happen) which is used with auxiliaries and copulae and carries no presence in time.

Sāx pi-sīman rejafa (The child sees the fire)

Pi-sīman ezrejafa (To see a fire)

Whether someone considers an event to be nearer or farther in time from them is completely up to their discretion. There's no set timeframe for when to use the recent vs. remote past, it's all fairly subjective. However, whether you decide to use the recent or remote can really indicate whether you believe something to be in the distant past or future, or just a few moments ago or soon.

Seraphic also makes use of two copulae, the perfective -r and the imperfective -l, helping clitics that expand on the aspect of the procedural, i.e. how the procedural happens over time instead of when in time. The copulae are separate from the procedural, being placed directly before it and conjugating on their own similarly to the lexical procedural. When the copulae are in use, they are conjugated instead of the lexical procedural, while the lexical will be put into the infinitive. The exception to this is if the point in time is considered necessary to be stated for the sake of clarity or emphasis, in which case the lexical verb will also conjugate (though this isn't considered to be the default). The two copulae each conjugate to six tenses, and give 12 individual aspects in total. They are as follows, starting with the perfective:

āgxōnr - Pluperfect: indicates that the action happened at a point before some time in the past either specified or implied (e.g. āgxōnr nidsl "that has happened")

xōnr - Preterite: indicates that the action happened in the past with no reference to if it was completed recently or remotely. A general past (e.g. xōnr nidsl "that happened")

nar - Relative: indicates relative clauses, i.e. clauses that act to modify a noun similarly to an adjective. Equivalent to "that", "who", or "which" (e.g. lsl nar nidsl "the thing that happens")

ednr - Gnomic: indicates general truths, common knowledge, and aphorisms (e.g. ednr nezłsl "things happen")

t'enr - Future Simple: indicates the action will happen in the future with no regard to how near or far it is from the present (e.g. t'enr nidsl "that will happen")

āt'ēnr - Future Perfect: indicates that the action will happen before a time or event in the future (e.g. āt'ēnr nidsl "that will have happened")

And the imperfective:

ŋ̄xōzl - Discontinuous: indicates that an action was happening in the past, but is no longer happening in the present (e.g. ŋ̄xōzl nidsl "that used to happen")

xōzl - Habitual: indicates that an action is done often or out of habit (e.g. xōzl nidsl "that always happens")

īzl - Progressive: indicates that an action is happening at the very moment of conversation (e.g. īzl nidsl "that is happening")

nizl - Prospective: indicates that an action will be starting to, or is in the process of happening (e.g. nizl nidsl "that is about to happen")

t'ezl - Iterative: indicates that an action happens again, repeatedly, or more than one time based on context (e.g. t'ezl nidsl "that happens again" or "that happens again and again")

nt'ezl - Continuative: indicates that an action happens continuously and without end (e.g. nt'ezl nidsl "that still happens")

With both tense and aspects, this largely expands the capability of Seraphic in referring to time.

Moods

Seraphic makes use of seven modal particles to denote seven moods. They are always placed at the beginning of clauses, and no two modal particles can exist in the same clause. They are grouped into four categories: the declaritive (indicative and negative), the inferential (evidential and interrogative), the deontic (volitive and imperative), and the epistemic (subjunctive and conditional). They add extra clarity in the speakers mood or opinion concerning the clause they modify, and are as follows:

Indicative: base form of a clause. Indicates that the speaker is stating a fact or what exists, and is unmarked (e.g. idsl "that happens")

tu - Negative: indicates that the speaker is stating a fact that is untrue or what doesn't exist. Usually only appears in formal, official texts, as the first syllable of the procedural will chage tone to contrast as well and leaves the particle unneccesary in colloquial speech (e.g. tu īdsl "that doesn't happen")

cuc - Evidential: indicates that the speaker is stating a fact that they believe or understand to be true, regardless of having experienced it or not. (e.g. cuc idsl "apparently that happens") Direct evidentiality is denoted using a different method.

an/ān - Interrogative: indicates that the speaker is confirming whether a statement is or isn't true. Forms questions (e.g. an idsl? "does that happen?")

tcān - Volitive: indicates that the speaker desires for the statement to be true (e.g. tcān idsl "that wants to happen" or "that needs to happen" or "that should happen")

má - Imperative: indicates that the speaker is giving a command or suggestion, to themselves and/or to other referents. Functions additionally as a cohortative and a jussive (e.g. má idsl! "let that happen!")

tir - Subjunctive: indicates that the speaker believes the statement to be possible or likely (e.g. tir idsl "that could/would/might happen")

nun - Conditional: indicates that speaker believes the statement to be possible under specific circumstances or conditions (nun idsl "if/when that happens..."

Miscellaneous

That's about the basics of the Seraphic language outline. I'd like to eventually get into things like comparison, evidentiality, declension forms and the like, but those are all topics that definitely need their own individual posts. Real quick, I want to provide one more additional fact about Seraphic.

Seraphic uses base-16, meaning it groups numbers in sets of 16 instead of sets of 10 like we do. 1-16 would be written 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, 10. 10 would be read as 16, and equally 20 would be 32. They're still counting the same amount of things, they're just dividing it up differently!

Anyways that's about it, I hope to share more about Seraphic soon, and when the comic gets released I hope you'll all be able to read it and pick out the many many lines of Seraphic I've poured into it!

ŋKowīci cu-stux 'ōf tsa-levp'ā cu-zāsláf pi-lizt'n ğōdjasa! (Thank you all so much for reading!)

[brokendreamscreation]

Carried to Safety ☠️ - @voodoodaaddy

Was he truly that terrible an angel that he deserved to be punished with the blades of angelic steel?

Lucid can feel them, darted through his wings and pinning him to the polished floor. Like a butterfly or small songbird pinned to be displayed for all to see, to gawk and point at, whispering of his wrongful doings. Another fine example for Heaven to use to warn others not to be like Lucid. Gold blood stained his blue and white feathers, like liquid sunshine painted against a clear blue sky. Another spear of illuminated celestial brilliance drives through the seraphs back and out his lower abdomen. Tearful starry eyes glance back over his shoulder in agony and horror as the narrow-eyed glare of Michael stared back. His mouth moved, in a low and static voice that said something v incomprehensible to Lucid.

Wait, static? Michael does not have static to his voice. The images of the other angels vanish along with the angelic spears, but the holes remain. Stinging and dripping with golden blood. The archangels image shifts and morphs into the familiar red clad demon with an ever present grin.

“Alastor..?” Heavy eyes finally open, blue hues meeting red. He isn’t in Heaven at all! In fact, the Radio Demon currently the weak and injured angel in his arms. Lucid offers a weak grin and chuckle. “We…n-need to stop running into ea-each other like this…”

[my-never-ending-nightmare]

Sketch of protagonist Makar Devushkin from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's debut novel Poor Folk, by I. V. Shabanova (1940)

"Ah, my darling, my darling! WHY did you come to this decision? How could you bring yourself to take such a step? What have you done, have you done, have you done? Soon they will be carrying you away to the tomb; soon your beauty will have become defiled, my angel. Ah, dearest one, you are as weak as a feather. And where have I been all this time? What have I been thinking of? I have treated you merely as a forward child whose head was aching. Fool that I was, I neither saw nor understood. I have behaved as though, right or wrong, the matter was in no way my concern. Yes, I have been running about after fripperies!... Dearest, I could throw myself under the wheels of a passing vehicle rather than that you should go like this. By what right is it being done?... I will go with you; I will run behind your carriage if you will not take me—yes, I will run, and run so long as the power is in me, and until my breath shall have failed. Do you know whither you are going? Perhaps you will not know, and will have to ask me? Before you there lie the Steppes, my darling—only the Steppes, the naked Steppes, the Steppes that are as bare as the palm of my hand. THERE live only heartless old women and rude peasants and drunkards. THERE the trees have already shed their leaves. THERE there abide but rain and cold. Why should you go thither? True, Monsieur Bwikov will have his diversions in that country—he will be able to hunt the hare; but what of yourself? Do you wish to become a mere estate lady? Nay; look at yourself, my seraph of heaven. Are you in any way fitted for such a role? How could you play it? To whom should I write letters? To whom should I send these missives? Whom should I call “my darling”? To whom should I apply that name of endearment? Where, too, could I find you? When you are gone, Barbara, I shall die—for certain I shall die, for my heart cannot bear this misery. I love you as I love the light of God; I love you as my own daughter; to you I have devoted my love in its entirety; only for you have I lived at all... Perhaps you did not know all this, but it has been so. How, then, my beloved, could you bring yourself to leave me? Nay, you MUST not go—it is impossible, it is sheerly, it is utterly, impossible. The rain will fall upon you, and you are weak, and will catch cold. The floods will stop your carriage. No sooner will it have passed the city barriers than it will break down, purposely break down. Here, in St. Petersburg, they are bad builders of carriages. Yes, I know well these carriage-builders. They are jerry-builders who can fashion a toy, but nothing that is durable. Yes, I swear they can make nothing that is durable.... All that I can do is to go upon my knees before Monsieur Bwikov, and to tell him all, to tell him all. Do you also tell him all, dearest, and reason with him. Tell him that you MUST remain here, and must not go. Ah, why did he not marry that merchant’s daughter in Moscow? Let him go and marry her now. She would suit him far better and for reasons which I well know. Then I could keep you. For what is he to you, this Monsieur Bwikov? Why has he suddenly become so dear to your heart? Is it because he can buy you gewgaws? What are THEY? What use are THEY? They are so much rubbish. One should consider human life rather than mere finery. Nevertheless, as soon as I have received my next instalment of salary I mean to buy you a new cloak. I mean to buy it at a shop with which I am acquainted. Only, you must wait until my next installment is due, my angel of a Barbara. Ah, God, my God! To think that you are going away into the Steppes with Monsieur Bwikov—that you are going away never to return!... ...Ah, dearest, my pet, my own darling!"

- Fyodor Dostoevsky, Poor Folk (1846)

[sylleblosscm]

V: FFXVI Headcanons

Luna’s Eikon

Without priming, Luna has very rudimentary access to her Eikon’s abilities. These abilities are directly proportional to her own physical strength, and represent but a fraction of Seraph’s true potential. In all states, she channels her abilities through her hands. 

Of her two primary abilities (healing and protection), she can only use one at a time as each takes a great deal of her concentration. In other words, she cannot heal someone and maintain a shield at the same time. Without her Eikon fully present, her shield resembles a flat plane of gentle blue light. Her healing abilities come with a warming glow that often puts people at ease.

In her default state, Luna can heal minor injuries and summon a shield no bigger than her torso which, while impervious to penetration, does not render her immune to the force of any given blow, and she can still be knocked down or knocked back. 

Semi-primed, she’s capable of healing serious wounds and summing an impenetrable shield big enough to protect herself and, depending on her physical and psychological state of mind, up to several other people. She can summon no more than two shields at any given time - one for each hand. Though stronger in this state and therefore less vulnerable to brute force, her shield can be physically overpowered. 

Seraph is capable of bringing a person back from the brink of death, healing even the most devastating injuries. Her shield is far larger; a dome-like structure nigh impervious to force - unless, of course, that force were to come from another Eikon or Ultima himself. In that case, she’d stand no more than a fighting chance.

Seraph's strongest ability - her Limit Break, if you will - is to reverse the effects of the Crystal's Curse. But it is difficult and comes at a cost. In order to remove the Curse, she must take it on herself. Even attempting to do such a thing risks leaving Luna in a weakened state for weeks or even months. And, well, the Dominant of Seraph cannot heal herself. It is said (though remains unconfirmed) that several former Dominants met their end this way. 

More On Seraph

Seraph takes the form of a woman: ageless, with soft features and long brown hair, a flowing gown, barefoot and blue-eyed; her hands oft clasped before her as if in prayer. She is the image of an angel with large white feathered wings, impervious to rain, snow, and heavy wind. Thus she can fly in all conditions. 

Seemingly like other Eikons, she is prone to the whims of her Dominant. Like the Phoenix, she is loyal to one bloodline alone. Perhaps a reflection of the Fleuret line, or perhaps the reason she chose them - she is enamored with the presence of life, preferring to observe rather than participate, and appears to bear no desire for worship. This is suspected to be the reason she takes the form of an angel: a servant commanding no glory of her own.

[mirandamckenni1]

Interstellar Expansion WITHOUT Faster Than Light Travel Check Out Space: The Longest Goodbye on the PBS YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT-pV48XBI4 Watch Space: The Longest Goodbye on Independent Lens: https://ift.tt/NZXD7gH In the far future we may have advanced propulsion technologies like matter-antimatter engines and compact fusion drives that allow humans to travel to other stars on timescales shorter than their own lives. But what if those technologies never materialize? Are we imprisoned by the vastness of space—doomed to remain in the solar system of our origin? Perhaps not. A possible path to a contemporary cosmic dream may just be to build a ship which can support human life for several generations; a so-called generation ship. Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://ift.tt/MbLaKXW Check out the Space Time Merch Store https://ift.tt/BS2QuMa Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! https://ift.tt/9QG2TNn Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: https://ift.tt/l6TGq3C Senior Creative Producer (ITVS): Andrea Bloom Creative Director (ITVS): Carol Paik Executive Producers (ITVS): Carrie Lozano, Lois Vossen Vice President, Marketing and Communications (ITVS): Lisa Tawil Original Production Funding Provided By: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting Acton Family Giving John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Ford Foundation Wyncote Foundation National Endowment for the Arts Hosted by Matt O'Dowd Written by Christopher Pollack & Matt O'Dowd Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini & Stephanie Faria Directed by Andrew Kornhaber Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour Executive Producers: Eric Brown & Andrew Kornhaber Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell Spacetime is a production of Kornhaber Brown for PBS Digital Studios. This program is produced by Kornhaber Brown, which is solely responsible for its content. © 2024 PBS. All rights reserved. End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/user/MultiDroideka Space Time Was Made Possible In Part By: Big Bang Sponsors First Principles Foundation John Sronce Bryce Fort Peter Barrett David Neumann Alexander Tamas Morgan Hough Juan Benet Vinnie Falco Quasar Sponsors Mark Rosenthal Grace Biaelcki Glenn Sugden Ethan Cohen Stephen Wilcox J Tyacke Mark Heising Hypernova Sponsors Daniel Muzquiz Michael Tidwell Frank Plessers Chris Webb David Giltinan Ivari Tölp Kenneth See Gregory Forfa Alex Kern Bradley Voorhees Scott Gorlick Paul Stehr-Green Ben Delo Scott Gray Антон Кочков Robert Ilardi John R. Slavik Donal Botkin Edmund Fokschaner chuck zegar Gamma Ray Burst Sponsors Jordan Young Arko Provo Mukherjee Mike Purvis Christopher Wade Anthony Crossland Grace Seraph Parliament Stephen Saslow Robert DeChellis Tomaz Lovsin Anthony Leon Leonardo Schulthais Senna Lori Ferris Dennis Van Hoof Koen Wilde Nicolas Katsantonis Joe Pavlovic Justin Lloyd Chuck Lukaszewski Cole B Combs Andrea Galvagni Jerry Thomas Nikhil Sharma John Anderson Bradley Ulis Craig Falls Kane Holbrook Ross Story teng guo Harsh Khandhadia Matt Quinn Michael Lev Rad Antonov Terje Vold James Trimmier Jeremy Soller Paul Wood Joe Moreira Kent Durham jim bartosh Ramon Nogueira The Mad Mechanic John H. Austin, Jr. Diana S Poljar Faraz Khan Almog Cohen Daniel Jennings Russ Creech Jeremy Reed David Johnston Michael Barton Isaac Suttell Oliver Flanagan Bleys Goodson Mark Delagasse Mark Daniel Cohen Shane Calimlim Tybie Fitzhugh Eric Kiebler Craig Stonaha Frederic Simon Tonyface John Robinson Jim Hudson Alex Gan John Funai Adrien Molyneux Bradley Jenkins Amy Hickman Vlad Shipulin Thomas Dougherty King Zeckendorff Dan Warren Joseph Salomone Patrick Sutton Julien Dubois via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWlpNm1C5gw

[princevictoriapunk]

Sinfonia Achievements

Achievement Categories

Wonders of the World

Challenger: Series IX

Mortal Travails: Series V

Meeting in Outrealm: Series V

Sinfonia: Symphonic Virtuoso

Sinfonia: Orchestra of Art and Tradition

More under the cut for length

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✶ Wonders of the World

Reputation Achievement:

"Superstar in Sinfonia": Reach Reputation Lv. 10 in Sinfonia.

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✶ Sinfonia: Orchestra of Art and Tradition

Sinfonia: Orchestra of Art and Tradition contains Achievements related to Sinfonia and rewards the Achievement: Maestro Namecard.

Crescendo Forge:

"Inferno's Refrain Perfected": Upgrade the Crescendo Forge in Sinfonia to its maximum level.

Statues of the Seven:

"Artisan's Tradition": Upgrade the Statues of The Seven in Sinfonia to their maximum level.

"Continental Explorer: Sinfonia Fantastica (I - V)": Light up the maps of Sinfonia.

Teleport Waypoints:

"Bard's Recollection (I - V)": Unlock all Teleport Waypoints in Sinfonia.

Shrines of Depth:

"Sanctuary Pilgrim: Sinfonia Fantastica (I - V)": Unlock all the Shrines of Depths in Sinfonia.

Seelie Courts:

"Guide to Harmony (I - V)": Follow 3 Seelie in [Sub] Region to their Seelie Courts.

"Guide to Harmony (I - V)": Follow 6 Seelie in [Sub] Region to their Seelie Courts.

"Guide to Harmony (I - V)": Follow 9 Seelie in [Sub] Region to their Seelie Courts.

Treasure Chests:

"A Capella Treasure Hunter (I - V)": Open 60 treasure chests in [Sub] Region.

"A Capella Treasure Hunter (I - V)": Open 120 treasure chests in [Sub] Region.

"A Capella Treasure Hunter (I - V)": Open 200 treasure chests in [Sub] Region.

Time Trials:

"A Capella Adventurer (I - V)": Complete 3 Open World Time Trial Challenges in [Sub] Region.

"A Capella Adventurer (I - V)": Complete 6 Open World Time Trial Challenges in [Sub] Region.

"A Capella Adventurer (I - V)": Complete 12 Open World Time Trial Challenges in [Sub] Region.

Side Notes:

"In [Sub] Region" refers to:

[Sub 1] — Serenata Coast and Armonia Plateau

[Sub 2] — Crescendo Isles and Vivace Vineyard

[Sub 3] — Allegro Vale

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✶ Sinfonia: Symphonic Virtuoso

Sinfonia: Symphonic Virtuoso contains Achievements related to Sinfonia and rewards the Achievement: Overture Namecard.

"Sea Shanty Collector":

Learn and perform a collection of traditional sea shanties at Alba Harbour.

"Lunar Serenity":

Witness a breathtaking lunar eclipse at Luna Beach.

"Grand Fashionista":

Explore and collect various traditional outfits and accessories, showcasing Sinfonia's unique fashion and style.

"Mystical Melodies":

Discover and activate all Radiant Spincrystals in Sinfonia.

"Abyssal Vanquisher":

Defeat the last remaining Abyssal creatures that emerged during the Cataclysm.

"Minuet Trailblazer":

Unlock and solve all encoded messages and inscriptions in Sinfonia.

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✶ Mortal Travails: Series V

Mortal Travails: Series V contains Achievements related to Sinfonia and rewards the Achievement: Roamers Namecard.

"Follow the Melody":

Obtain the power of Sono.

"Comedy, Divine":

Collect the entire "Divina Commedia" series.

"Hopeless Romantic":

Collect the entire "The Knight and the Spring Fairy" series.

"Renaissance Records":

Collect the entire "Fugue Chronicles" series.

"Siren's Call":

Explore and unlock the secrets of the Siren's Grotto.

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✶ Meeting in Outrealm: Series V

Meetings in Outrealm: Series V contains Achievements related to Sinfonia and rewards the Achievement: Celestial Sojourner Namecard.

"Symphony of Destruction":

Defeat Sono Hypostasis in Co-Op Mode.

"Singing Flowers":

Defeat Sono Regisvine in Co-Op Mode.

"Of Monsters and Man":

Defeat Bassline Behemoth in Co-Op Mode.

"Strings Plucked At Last":

Defeat Havoc Harpist in Co-Op Mode.

"Orchestrated Fall":

Defeat Seraph Maestra in Co-Op Mode.

"Vanguard and Guarddogs":

Defeat Lullaby Labyrinth Keeper in Co-Op Mode.

"Concert's Final Echo":

Defeat Echo Weaver in Co-Op Mode.

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✶ Challenger: Series IX

Challenger: Series IX contains Achievements related to Sinfonia and rewards the Achievement: Elite Rival Namecard.

"Rude Awakening":

Defeat the Lullaby Labyrinth Keeper without any party member being affected by its sleep-inducing melodies.

"Echo's Vanquisher":

Defeat the Sono Hypostasis without being hit by any of its echoing illusions.

"Magnum Opus":

Defeat the Echo Weaver without getting hit by his soundwaves.

"Fall from Grace":

Force the Seraph Maestra to crash onto the platform.

"Seraph's Silence":

Silence the celestial seraph's song.

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Crossposted on Genshin Impact Amino

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[seinrobinendo]

The Return Chapter 3 The New Wave

Ashfak moves through the destroyed town.

A person calls out to him.

Sinan: oye oye?

Ashfak turns around

Sinan: what are you doing here all of the survivors have left to south.

Ashfak looks drunk.

Sinan: how did you even survive bombings?

Sinan(v. O) : let alone that how the hell did you survive here , where there is no food and water.

We cut to a hospital complex.

This is T-11 Hospital complex . Modoru refugee camp.

Inside there are noises of people.

We see some people eating food

Some doctors treating some people lying on the floor.

Some kids laughing and playing with toys.

We see a truck with a red cross sign pull up.

The truck door opens and volunteers wearing that same red cross sign pulling out supplies from the truck.

An old man who was over seeing the whole process, remarks to one of red cross people

Old man: thank you for your help.

We see Sinan pull Ashfak closer.

Suddenly there is sudden outburst of noises in the hospital.

The old man is surprised and walks back to see what the commotion is about.

The children stop playing.

And the doctors look up

We see everyone gathered at the large screen in the big hall.

In the screen is Seraph.

There is whispers

It's seraph it's seraph

Seraph : yes, don't be surprised or scared. A saviour is coming. A young man who has seen a thousand deaths. Who will be put through intense suffering will emerge.He will be called KYU( pronounced kyu).

Seraph : He will carry the wounds of our people in his body and bring salvation to our people.

Cut to a large building that looks clandestine. There is a a small group of people there. They are getting a large number of phone calls.

This is Senso. Joho intelligence agency

Sensoagent1: who is this KYU, we never got any information on this.

We see a Joho news reporter in TV.

We see a group of Joho military men watching the newsreporter speak.

Among them is platoon commander Peter.

The newsreporter :the head of the Modoru religion made an abrupt announcement this morning, that a saviour will arise to save Modoru.

newsreporter : The head of Modoru religion holds a considerable sway over the Modoru people and was presumed to dead.His sudden appearance has surprised many.

We see Ashfak walking through the rubble with Sinan

We see Park sitting on top of a destoryed clock tower.

A military general looking guy walks through the destoryed town with Aide1

General Deku:you mean to say the Supreme leader is simply walking through the town with no security.

Aide1:I mean-

General Deku : He is supposed to be in the bunker. He is our last remaining hope.

General Deku suddenly looks up. On top of the destoryed Clock tower Park is sitting.

General Deku : you got to be kidding me.

Aide 1: sir I Will tell -

General Deku : no you listen to me, I am leaving this place right now. You tell him that his trust on his own intelligence is overwhelming and inhuman.

A beat passes

General Deku : tell him that I pray that his intelligence does not become his downfall.

A beat passes

General Deku : this prophecy has caught on like a wildfire. Maybe in the end it will just give us more time. But I have never seen such religious fever in our people.

We see Park walking down the stairs.

General Deku :our fighters are reinvigorated and our refugees are energized. Or am I just seeing things?

General Deku : either way I am grateful to God. We were living on borrowed time anyway.

General Deku smiles

We see Park coming out of the tower.

Aide1 is there.

Park : eh didnt Deku have something to say to me.

Aide1 takes a breath

Aide1: He said a lot was hanging on this KYU thing.

Park : don't worry kid, I got it covered.

Aide1 : this is the new list of people who claim to be KYU or who have been reported by citizens and our fighters as possibly being KYU.

Park looks through the list. There is a shot summary next to each name

Park : witnessed family's death no

He goes through each one of them

Park : witnessed grandfather who raised him die no

Park : revived people from the dead?

Park: what the hell are people going crazy?

Beat passes

Park : let's even assume That he can actually revive the dead, I don't want a messiah like that.

Park goes through the list.

Park : wait a minute, who is this Ashfak.?

Park : He came from Terui? But there was no survivers there

Park : His eyes look dead and he doesn't seem to care for the fact that a entire town was wiped out in front of him.

Park looks up from reading.

Park smiles devilishly

Park : oh this is good.

We see Bella sitting with group of people. The place looks crowded.

This is Tensho refugee camp

South Modoru

Reize : this saviour would save us right

Reize : right?

Bella is listening.

Bella stands up and walks through the hall

Everyone is whispering

KYU KYU KYU.

Inside Bella ‘S mind the words of platoon commander Peter ring.

Peter(flashback) :If your children avenge their parents, then I will accept that what we did here is wrong

We see Bella continuing her walk.

President Ten : how the hell are we taking more casualties suddenly?

General Gosso : it is not much of a concern Mr President, they implemented new tactic.

General Gosso: they are giving terminal patients and old people bombs to act as suicide bombers. The casualties were caused due to the unfamiliarity with the new tactic.

General Gosso : But our soldiers have already adapted to it, so it won't be a problem again. However the concerning thing is that many of these suicide bombers seem to have taken up the job voluntarily.

A beat passes

President Ten : I have recieved the report from Senso, The supposed saviour KYU has already been captured by the Modoru Military and is now being subject to torture.

Ren : what?! who is it.

General Gojo: the identity is unknown, but the intelligence provided by Senso is ironclad. The Modoru Military has already captured him. However the fact that he is being tortured is at the present being hidden from Modoru public.

Minster Shanon: do they believe that KYU isn't on their side?

General Gojo : it is unknown what Modoru military sees in him. The situation is constantly developing. Everyone including our military and Senso is watching this KYU prophecy.

General Gojo: what is undeniable is that KYU whether fictional or real holds sway over the common Modoru people.

We see Bella outside the refugee complex.

A huge number of people are outside, chanting towards the sky

‘ he shall come, he shall come

The one who takes the suffering upon himself will come.

KYU KYU. Long live our savior,

Deliver us from Hellfire

Long live KYU

KYU KYU KYU.

The KYU chants become deafening.

President Ten : what about their Supreme leader Park. He is dead right?

General Gojo : I think for all practical purposes he is dead. After all we wiped out every Modoru military town. Moreover if he was alive he would have made a move by now.

Sein : I remember seeing him at a conference a few years ago. He was referred to by the American foreign minster as The Problem. That man is weird. It is good that he is gone.

We see Park smoking alone amidst the a group of people.

Aide2: sir we have relayed the message that KYU has been captured and is now being subjected to torture on all our frontline communication lines. Which means that the Senso has already detected it.

Park:how much time before it reaches the common people?

Aide1: I think a day or two? Do you want me to tell the commanders to restrict the message?

Park : no they won't listen to me this time kid

Aide1 looks confused for a second.

We see Bella looking astonished as the KYU chants enter an even higher crescendo.

Park : a wave is coming. Larger than this place has ever seen. We can only hope to ride it.

Bella : All these people will die for this KYU guy.

Bella: is this it?!

Park : a new generation of believers is being indoctrinated as we speak kid

We see a few people bringing in Ashfak into the room where Park is sitting.

Park : this is the birth of a new age

Park for a second looks like a kid who got a toy.

We see Ashfak walking in. The people gathered around move away.

He notices Park sitting there

Ashfak (v. O) : what the hell is happening?

Ashfak (v. O) : isn't that the head of the Modoru Military, the Supreme leader Park.

Ashfak : you killed my family.

Park looks up

Park(v. O) : whoa this Kid is good. Using him will be much easier than expected.

He waves his hand and all but 4 people leave the room.

The four people look like guards.

Park :yes I killed them, not only your family, but every family that has now being killed was killed and will be killed was caused by my action.

Aide1 : no you shouldn't say stuff like that.

Park is angry

Park : you have not grown enough to interrupt me, you arrogant bastard.

Aide1 backs down.

Aide1(v. O) : you shouldn't say stuff like that even if it is for manipulation.

Park calms down.

Park : where was I? Yes I killed them. Infact many among our people argue that when I ordered that bombing on Joho on 25th Dec I did not know it would turn out like this.

Park : I mean who can blame them, for the all the crimes that the people of Joho have committed upon us for decades , our people would have thought that this was the least I could do.

Park : but as we all know common people whether it be in Joho or Modoru are stupid. The truth is that I knew that I was bringing forth an extermination when I ordered the Dec 25 attacks. The greatest lie, Mr Ashfak that politicians sold to their subjects is that a single person can't change the destiny of a people.

Park : for I tell you despite what anyone says, I am the one who created these circumstances.I alone.

Ashfak tries to throw a punch but as if preempting it Park punches him in the stomach.

Ashfak falls down.

Park : nice hah hah , now the torture of KYU has actually begun.

Ashfak : I watched an entire town full of people get bombed into bits

Ashfak looks up he is angry.

Park looks down at him

Park : don't look at me like that kid, I only did it because only I was capable of doing it . In this whole world only one person could bring forth the extermination of Modoru and that was not President Ten or God but me!.

Park : that's too much power not to use.

Ashfak tries to swing at him.

Ashfak : so you are the enemy

Park starts punching him suddenly. We see Aide1 motioning him to stop. But Park is continuously punching. We can hear Ashfak’ s screams.

Then he stops.

Ashfak now bloodied looks up.

Park : we are going to make a message out of you my boy. There is no KYU. Or rather KYU is non other Than Modoru ‘s supreme leader Park.

He grabs Ashfak’s throat

Park : remember that.

Park : take him.

We see them dragging him away.

We see a group of Joho soldiers walking forward as if in patrol. One of them notices something in the direction. He goes back to call his comrades

Solider1: Hey look there.

All of them look in shock at a distance.

A cross has been erected in the middle of the ruins.

The cross is covered with cloth, making the body hanging in it invisible.

One of soldiers pull of the cloth. All of them take a step back.

Solider 1: what the hell?!

We see a bloodied Ashfak lying on the cross.

Park is in the back of a van.

Aide1: the Joho have found him.

Park is silent.

Aide1 : the idea of anonymously leaking the clip of them discovering KYU was great idea.

Aide1: its probably playing in every TV in Joho and the world.

We see a family watching the news.

In it it we see the clip of KYU hanging on the cross. Everyone looks shocked.

[fuckzachariah]

Zach lingered by the bedside, eyeing the unravelling scene before him with waning resolve, a deity-crafted seraph floating on hundred count Egyptian threads. His hands folded over his chest as he chewed the smile from his own lips. "I'm trying to be better, remember? I heard somewhere lack of sleep can leads to all sorts of..." he trailed off, her legs parting ever so slightly, peeling his eyes from her like glue from fur. "Trouble." Her intentions were clear. He wasn't sturdy enough yet to resist the bait. He wasn't sure he ever would be. But, still - it felt good to know that he, too, played on her mind. She had been in this same state when she rejected Isaaq, and now attempted to lure Zach into her arms. To be wanted was his norm. To be needed was exclusively hers. He rolled his neck, small pops sounding through the silence, barely punctuating the tension thickening between them.

Alex took another drink, deepening herself further into her intoxicated desire for him, planting her bare feet firmly on the ground she'd laid out. Saying it without saying it. He took a sharp breath and looked back at her, her hip-pooling slip dress. "Alex," he warned smoothly, voice like syrup and low as a dying fire, but every sentence she uttered only displaced the blame in his mind. Who could be pinned with a crime they were lured into, dragged into by their sorry neck? A lush wickedness stirred in the pit of his abdomen, the solid 'V' sitting between his hips. It was hot and rushing. A delicious tornado. His arms came loose from his chest as his knees came down on the mattress, an obvious relenting, but the space he filled urged her back up toward the pillows.

Predator to prey, prey to predator. Their old game always brand new when it took its hold, firm hands around his neck. "I don't know what 'worth my while' means," he said. Drawled, even. With one easy swipe, he knocked the remaining miniature liquor bottles onto the floor. "But I do know that you're done drinking." His smirk hung crooked on his face, glinting in the dimmed light. "Now, you better start speaking in plain English before I leave you for dead in here." He clicked his tongue. "Princess."

Alexandra grinned cursedly. She was not inherently a danger to herself. It was unlikely that she would engage in any sort of behavior that would bring about physical harm. Her lack of restraint, however, was cause for concern. Having ingested nearly her weight in liquid courage, what was to stop her from sending a risky text message or two? The recipients undetermined. By now, she had cultivated a long list of potential suitors which seemed to lengthen by the day. It would not be a question of if they would bite, but rather who would be the first? Zach was the only one worth the gamble should she make a mistake this evening. But they had never been in this situation before. He was painstakingly sober and she was bashed out of her mind. He had something to prove, the weight of the world loaded upon his shoulders. Would he bite?

The material of her designer dress had rashly gathered around her upper thighs; one elongated, sun-kissed stem nudged toward him. Another avowedly innocent request, as if there were not bits of pink, French lace peeking back at him. Her doe eyes narrowed, now wielding a siren gaze as he folded his fingers around her ankle, carefully unbinding the clasp to her single heel. She was tempting him, but not with song. Her body had always been the most devastating weapon in her arsenal. His eyes drifted freely, and she welcomed it. It was subtle, but her opposite leg shifted, moving further apart as he remained focused on the task at hand. Alex laughed; her arm positioned just overtop of her head as she made herself comfortable, “I used to sleep beside you for months. You hardly ever sleep. That excuse won’t work here.”

He removed the Louboutin, disposing of the now useless accessory. His fingertips swept across her skin, the sensation delivering a rush of warmth through her body. Just as quickly as it arrived, it was over as he placed her foot back onto the mattress. Alex’s knees knocked together, “And I’m not bound to a ridiculous work schedule like you. I’ll sleep eventually. Maybe tomorrow on the plane.” She poured the remaining drops of vanilla liquor into her mouth, understanding she had now reached her limit. She sighed, “But we’re both awake. Both seemingly not tired. And we’re the only ones back at the hotel. You don’t want to go sit in your room alone, do you? Surely, it’s more fun in here.” Her thighs pressed together, swaying from side to side, “I did drag you out of your room tonight. I can at least try to make it worth your while.”

[evasion-finalist]

She's just going to pinch his cheeks and pull them apart because she's totally not bored.

“E-Edna! Wh-What the--” being cut off suddenly by the pulling, as he batted her hands away. “What do you think you’re doing!!” did they not come to a form of agreement where she would not hassle him? Jude had been so patient with her too.

[lostsoulaltair]

OnS Theories (24S). Second Theory - Explanation of the Memory Segment and the World of Illusions.

Hello everyone, finally we start with new theories, and I must say, chapter 106 just rocked. It was a really well done chapter, sasuga Kagami-sensei!

Nevertheless, there have been many doubts surrounding it, specially one about Mika and Shikama appearing, which actually have a more simple explanation than what it looks like, therefore, let’s begin!

P.S: Theories are held within neutral view and ships are excluded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js0bL1jOjeY

Before I start up explaining how this memory segment and the illusions work, let’s make a review or recap of the chapter:

First of all, the chapter resumes were Mikaela saw the big eye in the darkness; of course, such eye represents the depthness within Yu’s heart, as to why, I’ll explain that later on, but nevertheless, he noticed something peculiar about such eye:

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 106

He was aware the eye meant no harm to him, thus leading him to touch it, which of course, the eye gave permission to him, but why?

The reason to this is very simple; despite the eye which in fact is Yuu’s heart, or the source of origin of Yuu; the memories and experiences that have been withstood within Yuu along being engraved deep within his very soul remain there, thus meaning he trusts Mika completely, knowing he does not mean any harm along the very fact that he does see him as an equal, a human to the very core.

After this, the memory segment begins.

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 106

But, is this truthfully a memory segment?

The answer to this is absolutely yes.

You might wonder where or how exactly this is possible, and for that, I’ll bring the biggest reference possible to this kind of scenario and that is the franchise of Assassin’s Creed.

For those who might not know, Assassin’s Creed is a game franchise which of course, focuses on a secret order that works in the shadows to keep balance in the world against Templars, but of course, the main point or comparison is that the game itself uses memory segments, what do I mean?

The MC within those titles, uses a special machine to experience and live in a simulation the memories of their ancestors...

Along this, another anime that uses such events is actually a bizarre anime that I do not recommend to watch, which is Corpse Party. (Warning: Do not watch unless you tolerate horror and gore)

Within said anime, there’s a scene on which one of the main cast gets to experience lively what happened to the unfortunate souls that were living in a constant grudge to their tragic past. Which this could relate as living a memory segment as well...

And this is precisely what happens with Mikaela after touching said eye. ,it could be said he is set into a world made of the memories the very origin of Yuu experienced in flesh, which is why the next panel goes like this:

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 106

In the picture above and my failed attempts to trace a circle, the one looking at everything is in fact Mikaela Hyakuya; which is why he asks about where he currently is, along the creepy eyes in the tanks along spotting a child which is Yuu, the one that lived in with the progenitors and the chosen apostles.

It could be said that the big eyeball that allowed Mikaela to touch it, displayed Mika the distant past, along letting him experience everything in flesh, which is why he took the form of the tiny eye watching everything including Yuu.

Following this, Noya arrives and spots Yuu, which of course, knowing Yuu’s nature, he’s quite happy and hopeful to awake Mika without the knowledge of knowing that, in order to awake the corpse, he needs to disappear, but of course, knowing Noya’s nature, he stops being tolerant with him and decapitates him in the act:

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 106

Of course, to the scene, Ashera arrives and tells Noya that he shouldn’t have done that since Sika Madu would take heed and notice the incidents going around. (To this point, the memory segment is normal.)

This follows up Noya into saying that he’ll create another:

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 106

Within the circled dialogue box and the eye floating which of course is Mikaela, he notices that from the eyes that were floating in those tanks, they instantly materialized Yuu which of course was bestowed with life once it was out of the tank.

But since Noya couldn’t tolerate how noisy the cloned Yuu was, he ended up killing the newborn clone, thus leading to Mikaela’s position:

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 106

Mikaela realized he’d get materialized as Yuu and by experience, understood that if he made a noise, he’d get killed:

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 106

But now, the biggest question comes, which one could it be?

How was Noya not able to detect the changes and why did this memory segment continued? Does it mean the memory segment continued normally?

Within this, there are two scenarios:

First Scenario - The Past Simply Repeated Itself

Within this First Scenario, it’s very likely that the next clone made of Yuu wasn’t killed, which of course paints very well as to why Noya didn’t do anything else like ejecting or killing the current clone standing

Second Scenario - The Memory Segment didn’t consider such action as a huge alteration of the events

Within this scenario, which is likely just like the first one, it implies that the memory segment wasn’t affected that much, which is why it didn’t get destroyed or ejected Mikaela from it, since sooner or later, the next part of the segment would replay leading the events of seeing Shikama and the other demons arriving to the scene, and the biggest proof to this is the next panel:

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 106

After Noya and Ashera stopped paying mind to the clone of Yuu in there, Mikaela managed to wonder who they were and where exactly such events took place, thus leading to the arrival of the other demons which, until that spot, was where the memory segment was going or replaying:

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 106

When the other demons arrived, the memory segment was slowly getting disturbed by something, but what could this something mean?

Correct. The Power of Illusion and Distortion

The First Progenitor is well known to have powers that are equivalent of those to a God; powers that are extremely powerful to invade whatever he wishes to do, but, within this, the First Progenitor hasn’t even considered that within his schemes, there’s already a Trojan Horse invading his plans since the First Progenitor pretty much underestimates everything around him due to his arrogance which is why Rigr uses this disadvantage of the First to execute his plans without his notice:

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 106

Once Rigr finishes the countdown, the First Progenitor manages to fully materialize within the Memory Segment but, how is that possible?

Since the First Progenitor is capable of invading other’s hearts, which is heavily seen within chapter 73:

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 73

Back in chapter 73, Shikama managed to infiltrate in Ashera’s heart with ease, without alerting Yuu about it, since he was pretty much focused on making Ashera remember their agenda and goals to fulfill which lead to the current present.

But returning to the main theory, how exactly does this revolve around the powers of illusion and distortion?

For this, it is needed to understand that the memory segment acts like a Lucid Dream, which can be defined as this:

Lucid dreams are when you know that you’re dreaming while you’re asleep.

You’re aware that the events flashing through your brain aren’t really happening. But the dream feels vivid and real. You may even be able to control how the action unfolds, as if you’re directing a movie in your sleep.

Link source: https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/lucid-dreams-overview

This only gives strength as to why Mikaela was capable of changing few aspects without distorting the events of the past, but, since both Yuu and him lowered their guards, the First Progenitor had a door, but which one?

Correct. Asuramaru

After Asuramaru saw the transformation of the vampire Mikaela into a demon, he was able to remember everything, including how he became an apostle to Shikama and his loyalty towards him.

His main task is to serve him and retrieve Mikaela’s soul but since he was forced to obey Yuu due to the laws of the contract, the only thing Asuramaru might have been able to do is allow Shikama Doji enter within his heart, allowing him to fully enter into the heart of Yuu which was left wide open.

Thus leading to the next event, which is, creating an illusion, what do I mean?

After he managed to enter into Yuu’s heart or rather the deepest part of his heart, he mixed himself within the memory segment, allowing the segment to continue until he reached a safe distance where Mikaela was present, what do I mean?

This could be described as him acting as a part of the memory segment, but, instead of showing the memory of Sika Madu; he exchanged that memory figure with him, which could be single defined as substitution.

Which is why once he got close to Mika, the next thing that happened was this:

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 106

The Sika Madu displaying there isn’t the one from the past, but in fact, it’s the current Shikama Doji wearing a disguise and this is heavily seen by how he was able to manifest the scythes he currently uses as a demon; hence why he states he didn’t expect Mikaela would come that far to the past, and this is actually due to the fact that Mikaela wanted to understand why Yuu was that way and what he was mixed into, thus leading to the next panel:

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 106

Mikaela realizes that the real monster managed to appear within the memory segment or lucid dream he was experiencing since he heavily states that he has to wake up and get out of there.

But within this, there’s something rather curious that many readers within the spanish and english fandom wonder, what could it be?

What does Shikama mean by not letting Mika get away again?

That’s actually easy, what do I mean?

If many might recall, in chapter 98 Shikama made an act of presence in order to retrieve the demon Mikaela by sending Asuramaru, Gekkouin and Kiseki-O to his wolrd, which, they almost managed to capture:

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 101

Of course, what they didn’t consider was the fact that Yuu was heading their way to save Mikaela, which is why the First Progenitor is doing the job himself:

  Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 106

Of course, due to the massive difference of power, Mikaela isn’t capable of defending himself, but, within this, there’s something huge to highlight, what could it be?

The current Demon Mikaela isn’t tied to Shikama Doji

What does this mean?

It means that the demon Mikaela is made of all the life experiences and memories Mikaela Hyakuya lived, it means the past he had is the one he lived, BUT, the very reason the First Progenitor targets his soul it’s because he needs a soul to bring back whatever he wants to bring which of course it’s not good news.

Once he gets Mika’s soul, Mika and Yuu will cease to exist.

Which is why, the next thing that happens is this one:

Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 106

Yuu goes to his rescue as a voice; he reminds Mika that he’s not alone but in order to save him, he needs to accept the deal and contract of becoming his demon, so he can get more powerful and finally fend against the monster Shikama Doji truthfully is.

With this theory, it is focused to explain the events that happened in the latest chapter.

Hope this theory solves the many doubts the fandom may have!

Hope you enjoyed reading this!

What do you think dear readers?

Let me know!

[archesa]

Character List

It's been brought to my attention that I don't have a character list for my OCs, which can make it hard to follow track. Truth be told I never expected to need one because I had yet to encounter a fandom I felt at ease enough in to discuss my OCs at length the way I do now !

Alrighty then, so, let's give my kiddos a look ! Might (will) contain heavy spoilers for the aforementioned games and the related fics, so, read forth at your own risks!

Guild Wars 2

Trahearne Lives!AU

Anwen Evergreen - Celestial Guardian

Orphan before she could remember, Anwen was adopted by the Faren and grew up in Divinity's Reach, surrounded by a loving family and the best preceptors of Kryta. She swore an oath to Kormir and became a guardian in her early twenties, shortly before the sack of Shaemoor, where she drew the attention of the Seraph and the Shining Blade. She later joined the Priory, under the tutelage of Sieran.

After her mentor's untimely death in Claw Island — where she met the one who'd become her shieldmaiden and closest friend, Meryw (belongs to @lilypixy) — she threw herself heart and mind into the creation of the Pact.

During the campaign of Orr, she became fast friends with Trahearne, but it would take the Marshal going missing in Maguuma for her to realise her feelings for him went beyond friendship. She manages to defeat Mordremoth and save her dear friend at the cost of quite a few scars for them both.

Julian Alfred Faren - Bard Swordmaster

Not much need to introduce Lord Faren, but there's much to say about his years growing up with Anwen!

Lady Violet Faren & Lord Conrad Faren

Disaster parents to the Disaster Siblings! They're amongst the oldest and wealthiest families of Divinity's Reach and as such all but immune to scandal. Thus, they’re quite amused by their children’s shenanigans, and ever supportive of their idiosyncrasies.

Mesmer extraordinaire (aka Mentors Live AU, aka De Draconic Mobile)

Galaëd of the Cycle of Dusk - Phantasmal Duelist

Our mostly reliable narrator !

Born as the sun gleamed its last upon Caledon, Galaëd is fascinated with stars, wisps and fireflies — all the things that enlighten twilight and shimmer in the dark. He joined the Vigil to protect the world against the rising threat of the Elder Dragons and later became aide-de-camp to the Pact Commander, Rorschach Grimlaugh (belongs to @lilypixy).

Elianora Eira - Tempest

Daughter of destitute nobles, Elianora joined the Order of Whispers to use her influence, her knowledge of politics and her skill with elemental magic to good use against the dragons. (Officially part of the no less official Terror Trio, alongside Iotzza and Jiirka - Moar on them to be added!)

Lucius Gwenvaël Ayşenur Al-Amir (aka Lucius of Amnoon) - Sniper

Member of the Order of Shadows, Lucius is the son of a Vabbian noble, rumoured to descend from the Primeval Kings themselves, and a runaway ascalonian noble cast away on the shores of Elona while trying to escape an arranged marriage. He has embraced his matrilineal crusade against His Supreme Putrescence, Palawa Joko and is sent by as an ambassador of the Order to make a first contact with the Order of Whispers’ envoy, Elianora, and afterwards distantly watch over the Commander during his crusade against Balthazar. After a while, he joins Dragon's Watch and Elianora's life... permanently.

Felanor Eurwén - Warrior

A Seraph and childhood friend to the Elianora.

Dalor Eurwén - Engineer

A skilled inventor and jeweller, older brother to Felanor, and childhood friend of Elianora.

The Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim

Specifially for my fic The Dragon and the Bear

Eliana Evergreen Stormcloak

Half-elven alchemist of Falkreath, condemned to death by the Thalmor, she escaped Helgen with Ralof and embraced her destiny as Dragonborn. She remained neutral in the conflict till Alduin was defeated but afterwards joined the Stormcloak rebellion, in hope to free Skyrim from the Aldmeri Dominion 's influence. She and Ulfric eventually fall in love and rule over a free Skyrim together.

Aventus Aretino

Kept from completing the Black Sacrament by Eliana, he was pardoned and offered to stay in the Palace of Kings as Ulfric's ward.

Gendry of Solitude

A young scout who lied about his age to join the rebellion. He earned Ulfric and Galmar's trust during the battle of Hjallmarsh and the sinister case of the Butcher, and was offered a position as housecarl to Windhelm's newest Thane, the Dragonborn.

Buliwulf Stormcloak (spoilers!)

The first of the Stormcloaks children. His Voice is strong and he is coveted by the Greybeards to become one to them.

Liv Stormcloak (spoilers 2!)

The second of the Stormcloaks children. Much like her mother, she’s exceptionally skilled in destruction magic and will join the College of Winterhold to further her studies in Restoration and Conjuration. An investigation led by the College on the strange events plaguing Solstheim will eventually lead her to Apocrypha where she’ll encounter Miraak.

Arya Stormcloak (spoilers 3)

The third of the Stormcloaks children. Small and shrewd, her tongue is as sharp as her daggers, which will help her harness many allies and fend many enemies when she’s forced to flee Windhelm with Aventus and Gendry as her protectors in the wake of the capital’s siege at the beginning of the Second Great War.

Liv Darroch, the Heroine of Kvatch

Founder of the Evergreen line.

Uncovering the corruption of Mannimarco, King of Worms, over the Mages Guild, she was wrongly accused of the murder of the Arch-Mage, Hannibal Traven, and would have been executed or left to rot in a cell of the Imperial Prison if not for Akatosh’s wicked sense of humour and purpose, as the cell she was imprisoned in held the secret passage the Blades had to take the Emperor through to protect him from the assault of the Mystic Dawn.

Stricken by his assaillants, Uriel Septim entrusted the rogue Master Wizard with the Amulet of Kings and a secret that would seal the fate of Tamriel for the centuries to come.

My Novel

I might mention the characters sometimes but I'm mostly keeping that story a secret for now 😅

[majestyrising]

Seraph, Pt. V

Notes: Aha, once again not chronologically coherent. An extract from the end of the war between the ancient city of Ieri Poli and it’s divine ruler, Iustinious, and a shade remnant god known as Tethys. Warnings for mild body horror.

Pings: @vicegrips-fr @mask-fr @kattafr @slighteyewing

The mighty corpse of the shade remnant Tethys sits like a mountain, casting a deep shadow over the entire city of Ieri Poli. Well, what remains of it. The buildings have been shattered and sundered, even the tallest and more resilient still smoulders, shivering in the breeze.

Iustinious gets to his feet and finds his knees weak. With a soft grunt, he braces himself on the hilt of his sword. The scale that hangs from it's cross guard tips to and fro as he uses it to heft himself to his feet.

It should be a cause for celebration. Tethys is dead, destroyed finally. No longer will she threatened the blessed people under the Lightweaver's gaze. And yet-

Nothing but devastation as far as the eye can see. Rubble and broken weapons, bodies and the injured. Belisarius limps weakly towards a small group of the injured, holding her bow arm to her chest. She casts a look over her shoulder at Iustinious and gives him a weak smile. It doesn't meet her eyes. Those are too sad, bloodshot from soot and war.

Iustinious swallows and looks around. When Tethys took a final swipe at them, Sidaris was with him- his attendant, a woman whose strengths lie in diplomacy yet who refused to leave him on the final field of battle.

"Sidaris?" he calls, rubbing dust from his face as he makes his way through the carnage. The twisted bodies of Tethys' spawn litter the field, oily and black. Intertwined with them are his people, so few of them soldiers but too loyal, desperate to save their home.

None are still alive.

"Sidaris?" he calls again, louder this time, "Sidaris!"

There's no response. He grits his teeth and keeps looking, the shade-spawn's bodies catching fire where his hands touch them, repelled by his innate divine nature.

His heart sinks the longer he searches; that is until he spots obsidian hair catching in the smoky light.

"Sidaris!" he shouts, dashing over to shove the twisted remnant of one of the shade spawn away, revealing her body battered and bruised.

"Your radiance," she croaks out, with a smile that does meet her eyes despite her bloodstained cheeks, "We won."

Her voice is thin and reedy, a gash that runs down from her cheek to her chest. Her legs are crushed, but her elation is pure.

"We did," he agrees sombrely, "Do not move, my friend. I will heal you."

Her eyes flutter shut as he kneels down at her side, carefully lifting her onto his lap. Her breathing is so shallow. So shallow it's almost non-existent.

Jaw clenched he summons his aching bones to listen, his exhausted magical core to move and glow, his divine mana to manifest. The battle was so long. Never before has he been forced to confront mortality, to stare it in it's hideous face. He is immortal. He cannot die. But everyone around him can.

Her breathing is silent, her eyes shut.

A radiant light fills his body, pushing through his pores. A glow that never goes out.

Using all of his remaining strength, he pushes that power from himself into Sidaris.

Yet it doesn't absorb.

"It won't work," Sidaris mumbles, her eyes opening, a cough escaping her lips, "The poison..."

Iustinious lets out a panicked breath. The fluid from the shade spawn leaks into the group, bespoiling and corrupting it. It too leaks onto Sidaris, blackening her flesh.

It repels his attempts to save her, like oil on water.

"No," he says, suddenly furious, "No, it cannot be so."

Sidaris looks at him noncomprehending. Slowly her head turns to the side and another, even brighter smile works its way onto her face.

"Look," she says, her voice full of awe, "The sun is rising again!"

He follows her gaze to where the sun is beginning to crest the horizon, sending golden rays of warmth across the shattered plains.

"Yes," he manages, full of emotion and looking down at her- his heart plummets into the earth below as her gaze meets nothing, "The sun is back, my dearest friend."

He feels her spirit go, lifting from it's fallen vessel like so much air.

It hurts- like the final crack in a broken vase, he feels agony and heartache well up inside him. Its not fair. They won, and yet as he looks around he already knows that barely one tenth survived. His city is all but gone, his beloved people decimated.

What good is that the power of the gods if it cannot even save one person?

He bows his head and weeps quietly to himself, six-fold wings at his back drooping to the ground as one fades from shining violet to black.

Justinian wakes with a cold sweat. The memories fade like a photograph in reverse until he is again blind from his hubris, his fall from grace.

The sorrow sits ill. Sidaris is but a figure of legend now, and he has no one to talk to about the grief that still runs in his blood. Still, there’s nothing to be done now. He can hear footsteps just past his door- likely Mischa having brought him coffee for the early morning. It’s sweet, but he doesn’t quite want to have anyone gaze upon him right now.

“Just leave it there,” he calls, sitting up and reaching across the nightstand for his blindfold, keeping his pale eyes shut until it’s secure. The irony of light hurting him still isn’t lost on him. Mother has a cruel sense of humour.

“You alright?” Mischa calls back, no doubt putting a hand on the door considering that it creaks.

“Bad dreams,” Justinian answers truthfully, scratching his chin and getting up, pulling his cane from where he left at leaning against the wall, “Nothing to trouble yourself about.”

“If you’re sure,” Mischa says, sounding a touch concerned nonetheless, “Kos wants to see us when everyone’s up.”

“Mm,” Justinian murmurs, doing his best to push the images of a time when he was the one at the table with a shining crown, surrounded by his own tacticians. But then again, all of his died- and all of Koschei’s still live.

He’s always been the better ruler; so Justinian goes back to being nothing more or less than a mysterious acolyte with a strange level of expertise in history.

[troybeecham]

Today, the Church remembers St. Bonaventure.

Ora pro nobis.

He was born at Bagnorea in Umbria, not far from Viterbo, then part of the Papal States, in 1221 AD. Almost nothing is known of his childhood, other than the names of his parents, Giovanni di Fidanza and Maria di Ritella.

He entered the Franciscan Order in 1243 and studied at the University of Paris. In 1253 he held the Franciscan chair at Paris. A dispute between seculars and mendicants delayed his reception as Master until 1257, where his degree was taken in company with Thomas Aquinas. Three years earlier his fame had earned him the position of lecturer on The Four Books of Sentences—a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the twelfth century—and in 1255 he received the degree of master, the medieval equivalent of doctor. After having successfully defended his order against the reproaches of the anti-mendicant party, he was elected Minister General of the Franciscan Order. On 24 November 1265, he was selected for the post of Archbishop of York; however, he was never consecrated and resigned the appointment in October 1266.

Bonaventure was instrumental in procuring the election of Pope Gregory X, who rewarded him with the title of Cardinal Bishop of Albano, and insisted on his presence at the great Second Council of Lyon in 1274. There, after his significant contributions led to a union of the Greek and Latin churches, Bonaventure died suddenly and in suspicious circumstances.

He steered the Franciscans on a moderate and intellectual course that made them the most prominent order in the Catholic Church until the coming of the Jesuits. His theology was marked by an attempt completely to integrate faith and reason. He thought of Christ as the “one true master” who offers humans knowledge that begins in faith, is developed through rational understanding, and is perfected by mystical union with God.

Bonaventure was formally canonised in 1484 by the Franciscan Pope Sixtus IV, and ranked along with Thomas Aquinas as the greatest of the Doctors of the Church by another Franciscan, Pope Sixtus V, in 1587. Bonaventure was regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of the Middle Ages.

Bonaventure wrote on almost every subject treated by the Schoolmen, and his writings are very numerous. The greater number of them deal with philosophy and theology. No work of Bonaventure’s is exclusively philosophical, a striking illustration of the mutual interpenetration of philosophy and theology that is a distinguishing mark of the Scholastic period.

Much of St. Bonaventure’s philosophical thought shows a considerable influence by St. Augustine. So much so that De Wulf considers him the best medieval representative of Augustinianism. St. Bonaventure adds Aristotelian principles to the Augustinian doctrine, especially in connection with the illumination of the intellect and the composition of human beings and other living creatures in terms of matter and form. Augustine, who had introduced into the west many of the doctrines that would define scholastic philosophy, was an incredibly important source of Bonaventure’s Platonism. The mystic Dionysius the Areopagite was another notable influence.

In philosophy Bonaventure presents a marked contrast to his contemporaries, Roger Bacon, Albert the Great, and Thomas Aquinas. While these may be taken as representing, respectively, physical science yet in its infancy, and Aristotelian scholasticism in its most perfect form, he presents the mystical and Platonizing mode of speculation that had already, to some extent, found expression in Hugo and Richard of St. Victor, Alexander of Hales, and in Bernard of Clairvaux. To him, the purely intellectual element, though never absent, is of inferior interest when compared with the living power of the affections or the heart.

Like Thomas Aquinas, with whom he shared numerous profound agreements in matters theological and philosophical, he combated the Aristotelian notion of the eternity of the world vigorously (though he disagreed with Aquinas about the abstract possibility of an eternal universe). Bonaventure accepts the neo-Platonic doctrine that “forms” do not exist as subsistent entities, but as ideals or archetypes in the mind of God, according to which actual things were formed; and this conception has no slight influence upon his philosophy.

Like all the great scholastic doctors, Bonaventura starts with the discussion of the relations between reason and faith. All the sciences are but the handmaids of theology; reason can discover some of the moral truths that form the groundwork of the Christian system, but others it can only receive and apprehend through divine illumination. To obtain this illumination, the soul must employ the proper means, which are prayer, the exercise of the virtues, whereby it is rendered fit to accept the divine light, and meditation that may rise even to ecstatic union with God. The supreme end of life is such union, union in contemplation or intellect and in intense absorbing love; but it cannot be entirely reached in this life, and remains as a hope for the future.

Like Aquinas and other notable thirteenth-century philosophers and theologians, Bonaventure believed that it is possible to prove the existence of God and the immortality of the soul. He offers several arguments for the existence of God, including versions of St. Anselm’s ontological argument and Augustine’s argument from eternal truths. His main argument for the immortality of the soul appeals to humans’ natural desire for perfect happiness, and is reminiscent of C. S. Lewis’s argument from desire. Contrary to Aquinas, Bonaventure did not believe that philosophy was an autonomous disciple that could be pursued successfully independently of theology. Any philosopher is bound to fall into serious error, he believed, who lacks the light of faith.

A master of the memorable phrase, Bonaventure held that philosophy opens the mind to at least three different routes humans can take on their journey to God. Non-intellectual material creatures he conceived as shadows and vestiges (literally, footprints) of God, understood as the ultimate cause of a world philosophical reason can prove was created at a first moment in time. Intellectual creatures he conceived of as images and likenesses of God, the workings of the human mind and will leading us to God understood as illuminator of knowledge and donor of grace and virtue. The final route to God is the route of being, in which Bonaventure brought Anselm’s argument together with Aristotelian and Neoplatonic metaphysics to view God as the absolutely perfect being whose essence entails its existence, an absolutely simple being that causes all other, composite beings to exist.

Bonaventure, however, is not only a meditative thinker, whose works may form good manuals of devotion; he is a dogmatic theologian of high rank, and on all the disputed questions of scholastic thought, such as universals, matter, seminal reasons, the principle of individuation, or the intellectus agens, he gives weighty and well-reasoned decisions. He agrees with Saint Albert the Great in regarding theology as a practical science; its truths, according to his view, are peculiarly adapted to influence the affections. He discusses very carefully the nature and meaning of the divine attributes; considers universals to be the ideal forms pre-existing in the divine mind according to which things were shaped; holds matter to be pure potentiality that receives individual being and determinateness from the formative power of God, acting according to the ideas; and finally maintains that the agent intellect has no separate existence. On these and on many other points of scholastic philosophy the “Seraphic Doctor” exhibits a combination of subtlety and moderation, which makes his works particularly valuable.

In form and intent the work of St. Bonaventure is always the work of a theologian; he writes as one for whom the only angle of vision and the proximate criterion of truth is the Christian faith. This fact influences his importance for the history of philosophy; when coupled with his style, it makes Bonaventure perhaps the least accessible of the major figures of the thirteenth century. This is true, not because he is a theologian, but because philosophy interests him largely as a praeparatio evangelica, a preparation for evangelism, as something to be interpreted as a foreshadow of or deviation from what God has revealed.

In a way that is not true of Aquinas or Albert or Scotus, Bonaventure does not survive well the transition from his time to ours. It is difficult to imagine a contemporary philosopher, Christian or not, citing a passage from Bonaventure to make a specifically philosophical point. One must know philosophers to read Bonaventure, but the study of Bonaventure is seldom helpful for understanding philosophers and their characteristic problems. Bonaventure as a theologian is something different again, as is Bonaventure the edifying author. It is in those areas, rather than in philosophy proper, that his continuing importance must be sought.

Almighty God, you gave to your servant Bonaventure special gifts of grace to understand and teach the truth as it is in Christ Jesus: Grant that by this teaching we may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

[lepetitmonstre]

fic preview, DOOM, Doom Slayer/VEGA, ovi (oh also doomguy is trans that’s v important)

500/2k+ words

He presses his tongue in between Vega's stiff lip plates. Running just the tip carefully along the tiny points of his incisors. The celestial being squirms in the Slayer's lap. After a year of separation, there was nothing to keep them apart any longer. No demon, no Dark Lord, nor seraph to oppose. All responsibilities and barriers had fallen to the Slayer's righteous rage. Leaving only the two of them alone in a quiet fortress to make use of as they pleased. With Urdak now a dead realm, The Father had no purpose. What use is a leader if there is nothing to lead? A king with no kingdom is no king at all. Thus, Vega came back to the one place—or rather, person—who made him feel at home. Wearing the first body he was born into before recorded time began. An alien cephalopod of pure, white armor and red tentacles; a makyr. Despite having never been together this way before, the pair each felt like life had returned to some normalcy. Even as the names and faces changed the core longings remained the same. The war was over. The Slayer had at last sated his vengeance. In the fallout of the great deeds that will define their memory for eternity... they only yearn for one another. The Slayer's helmet had been removed when they started, and now his hands were drifting to the preator suit's belt– Until Vega stops him. The Slayer sighs and breaks the kiss if only see Vega can better see his hands. A fresh ache fills them both at the loss of contact. 'What's wrong?' "If you are removing your belt, I assume you want to have intercourse. But I do not think that is wise." 'Why?' The Slayer signed. "Our reproductive systems did not evolve to be compatible. My hectocotylus is much larger than any primate genitalia. And... I am due to spawn. Moreover, I know how you feel about your reproductive status. I would not want to cause you physical or emotional harm by laying eggs inside you." The Slayer shrugged. 'I'm willing to try anything once.' "You would allow it?" 'Yes. Vega, I've spent a thousand years in hell, engaged in Night Sentinel orgies, and I know you've seen my internet history. I'm not scared of you or your alien dick.' "That is true, although I'm not sure why your data search patterns are relevant. You are a force of divine retribution. I need not have doubted you. Regardless, your consent is important to me." 'If I don't like something, I'll stop you.' "I can ask for nothing more." The Slayer responds by leaning in for another kiss. Guiding Vega backward in the process, until his back is pressed into the mattress with the Slayer straddling his waist. The Slayer makes a show of removing the upper half of his armor. Piece by piece being unbuckled at the seams and stripped away, revealing the soft topography of human muscle crisscrossed by the pale lines of countless scars.

entire fic coming to AO3 soon