#yes i copied the wiki page

[sacchiri]

Hellsing 2002 calendar illustration.

Ein wunderliche und erschröckliche Hystori von einem großen Wüttrich genant Dracole wayda Der do so ganz unkristenliche marrter hat angelegt die mensche, als mit spissen als auch die leut zu Tod geslyffen

A wondrous and frightening story about a great berserk called Dracula the voivode who inflicted such unchristian tortures such as with stakes and also dragged people to death

[bishonenspit]

People on tiktok are claiming maya said he only sees maraich as bancoran's mistress... nice argument why dont you back it up w/ a source

Actually yes, I can! LOL

(This actually includes something I LOVE researching and explaining which is TRANSLATION NUANCCCEEEE let's hear it for TRANSLATIONNNNN)

At a base level, yes, Maraich is referred to as Bancoran's "mistress" by Maya Mineo and the canon text, if that is how you choose to translate "愛人" or "aijin".

As with anything in Japanese this can have like, a solid handful of meanings depending on the context it's used in. Or how you choose to translate it. Or both.

Most commonly, aijin is translated to "mistress" (and most commonly this is the result given by machine translation). So yes, this is technically what Maraich is called, however given the context of Bancoran and Maraich's relationship (and the fact that most commonly, it's not MARAICH who is the "other woman") a more accurate translation of it would be "lover", in my opinion.

More modern translations of aijin tend to add the connotation of an extramarital affair, but in old Japanese (and I mean old. think pre war.) it primarily meant something along the lines of "lover" in a more classic, straightforward sense. That connotation stills exists, but it now more commonly carries the implication of adultery lol.

Based off the typical comedic stylings of Maya Mineo, I would wager this specific word is used particularly because of its multiple meanings and undertones lol. Obviously, Bancoran is not married and cheating with Maraich. If I had to guess, it's specifically used as a tongue-in-cheek jab at the state of their relationship lol. They're lovers, but there's also a certain vibe of scandal to them even at Bancoran's most monogamous. (If you ask me, if the intention is a joke (which, likely) it's one of those things that's sort of untranslatable in a way. "Mistress" and "lover" are a bit too on the nose in their meanings in English to properly carry the implication aijin can carry. IN MY OPINION. Not a translator, just a nerd about it.)

That's just my two cents though, in terms of actual sources, the Japanese wiki page refers to Maraich as such, as well as this little article in Hana To Yume. And almost certainly a handful of times though the manga. It also pops up a couple times in the 99.9 special volume of the manga (confirmed after a brief skimming of my copy.)

Whether Michan himself only sees Maraich as such, I'm not sure. I don't think that's a thing he's said in those words, though he's probably referred to Maraich as Bancoran's aijin. So that specific "accusation" does lack a source, but the chances it was said are not zero. Though I hope with the context I added it comes off a little less scandalous. I assure you, Maya Mineo cares about both parts of BanMara relatively seriously.

If it helps, off the top of my head I recall that Maraich is referred to as Bancoran's "恋人" (koibito), which is the more common word for lover/romantic partner, hold the implication of adultery. (There could be more instances of this, that particular episode was just what popped into my brain as a moment where his "position" in regards to Bancoran was conversationally relevant.)

[crappy-writings]

Safe

Maria HillxReader // Angst/Fluff

*Image is not mine, credit to its creator

Summary: When the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Facility is destroyed and you’re trapped under the rubble, Maria has to balance her job as Deputy Director and her relationship with you.

Trigger Warnings: FwB relationship (mentioned), Cursing, Guns, Death, Anxiety, Hospitals, Injuries, Amputation (mentioned), I think that’s it.

No pronouns for the reader were used, I think

Word Count: 6,970

A/N: Thanks to this Reddit thread for helping me figure out the timeline of The Avengers, as well as all the Marvel Wiki pages I visited, lol

Anyways, I'll forever be mad at Secret Invasion for doing my girl so dirty, so I'm jumping back to 2012 Avengers. Don't know if this sucks, so constructive criticism is always welcome.

Main Masterlist | MCU Masterlist | Recced Fics Masterlist

May 2nd, 02:47 hrs

“Sir, evacuation may be futile,” Maria says as she steps down the stairs, right on Fury’s heels. “We should tell them to go back to sleep?” Fury turns his head towards her while still descending the stairs. “If we can’t control the Tesseract’s energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance,” she argued.

“I need you to make sure the Phase Two prototypes are shipped out,” Fury orders as he reaches the entrance to where the Tesseract was being kept. “Sir, is that really a priority right now?” she asks incredulously. 

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on,” he says, turning towards her, his tone leaving no room to argue, “Clear out the tech below. Every piece of Phase Two on a truck and gone.” 

“Yes, sir,” she says as she passes him by. She had her orders. “With me,” she orders the men who stood at either side of the door as she descends into the lower levels of the facility.

“Dispatch any available teams to the underground levels. Clear out any and all remaining Phase Two prototypes,” she speaks into her communicator. To say that Maria did not agree with focusing on the Phase Two prototypes would be an understatement. If anything, determining a minimum safety distance should be top priority, if there even is one. If not, destroying the Tesseract would be a better option. Regardless of what she thought though, she trusted Fury to know what he was doing. He is the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a reason.

“Copied, two additional teams have been dispatched,” the deep voice of an agent rang through her communicator.

The two dispatched teams were already there by the time she arrived at the underground lot, yours being one of them. She takes in a deep breath and subtly braces herself. She was hoping she would not be running into you for at least a few days. 

The two men who came down with her began helping both teams with the prototypes. You load up a few boxes before closing the trunk of the truck, the slam echoing throughout the underground garage. 

“Davidson, you’re driving this one,” you said as you threw a set of keys to one of the agents. Davidson catches the keys easily. “Menendez, Martinez, and Lee, you’re going up with Davidson. Gold leader is already waiting topside.” 

“You,” you point to one of the new arriving agents, “What’s your name?”

“Agent Callahan,” the man you pointed at responded. 

“I’ll have you join Davidson,” you order as you turn to the other agent, “what about you?” 

“Agent Moore,” the agent replied. You nod in acknowledgement, “You’re joining my team in the meantime.” 

The five agents jumped inside the truck and began transporting the prototypes to the surface. 

“Harris, you’re driving that one over there once it’s loaded up. Williams, Parker, Garcia and Moore are going with you. Bennett, you’ll be riding with me,” you continue giving out orders, “Gold leader is waiting for us before moving to the established rendezvous point.”

As you turn to load more boxes, you notice the Deputy Director standing between the cylindrical columns of the large underground parking space. Your gaze lingered on her for a few moments before grabbing one of the small crates and putting it in the truck. Maria noticed this but ignored it. She cannot afford to be distracted by you and this… fling.

She did not know how to describe your relationship as it stood.

“Keep loading boxes, I’ll be back in a minute,” you tell your team, before climbing up the platform and standing beside her.

 “Most of the equipment has already been moved, Gold leader’s team is en route, and my team is taking care of the last few boxes. This should be the last truck from this level and Red and Blue leader reported their levels are cleared. We should be out of here in no more than eight, ten minutes,” you report, crossing your arms over your chest as you oversee your team along with her. 

“Make it five,” she says without looking at you, “I want everyone out of here as quickly as possible.” Her posture remained stiff beside you, and you couldn’t help but be upset by that. 

“Have you thought about what I told you?” you ask quietly. Her posture does not ease. She instead inhales sharply.

 “Yes,” her tone was tense, her answer short. “And?” you prodded after a few beats of silence. “I don’t know,” she answers. 

You sigh in disappointment, but you were not surprised. For as long as you’re known the woman beside you, her main focus has always been her job. You knew this going into this ‘relationship.’ The “friends with benefits” thing had been working out just fine. You met up whenever you wanted to, did whatever you wanted to with no strings attached. But just like one of those cliché movies you sometimes watched, you caught feelings for the woman who had become now more closed off than ever. 

Despite your attempts to keep your changed feelings hidden, she had noticed the subtle shift in your actions, gestures and the way you spoke to her. You yourself did not think you were doing anything different, but apparently, you were wrong. She asked you if anything had changed and you were honest. You told her your feelings about the arrangement had changed and were wanting something more with her, if she agreed. You were foolish for bringing it up at all to her.

She began to shut you out almost immediately, much to your anger and disappointment. Thus, you offered her a sort of ultimatum. She was to decide what she wanted out of the ‘relationship’, out of you, but if she could not, you would call everything off and you would go your separate ways.

The echo of a trunk closing snaps you out of your thoughts. The truck’s engine turns on and you watch as Harris and the other assigned agents drive out of the lot. “Green leader, do you copy?” your comms buzzed with the other team leader’s voice. “Yes, Gold leader, I copy. The remaining prototypes are already en route to topside. Do we have the green light?” you ask. 

“Yes, we do. We are awaiting you and the rest of our teams to arrive up here to head for the rendezvous. See you in a few minutes.”

“Will do Gold Leader, expect us in about 10 minutes, over and out,” you shut off your comms device. You take a deep breath before turning to her, your face serious. 

“I need an answer soon, Hill. I don’t like wasting my time,” you say quietly before straightening up and leaving her side.

“Alright Bennett, hop in, time to go,” you announce loudly as you jump down from the platform, “Let’s go!” 

Maria watches you hop into one of the unattended Jeeps and turn on the ignition. Her tense shoulders loosen up, but her jaw does not unclench. You began to drive as soon as Agent Bennett sat beside you. Her eyes trail after you as the car leaves the parking space.

“So,” Bennett draws out the word casually. “No,” you shut it down quickly.

“You and the Deputy Director?” he pressed on, a smirk creeping up on his lips. “No,” you insisted. 

“That’s a yes.”

“Bennett,” you say warningly. He did not take your tone seriously, knowing that it was all in good fun. Except that it was not very fun for you.

“HR would have a field day with the both of you. Do you think she would get suspended for it? Would you get suspended? Oh, do you think Fury knows?” he pressed on, going off on a tangent now like a gossiping hen. 

“Adrian Bennett, if you don’t shut up now, I will suspend you for spreading rumors,” you say in a serious tone, your grip on the wheel getting tighter.

“Oh, come on boss, it’s all in good fun,” Bennett replies, nudging your shoulder good-naturedly. 

“For you, maybe. Besides, there’s nothing going on between the Commander and me. So, don’t go spreading that around,” you say firmly. Part of you feared that your voice would betray you as you spoke those words, but you managed to keep your tells in check.

“Alright, whatever you say, boss.”

But what he said had struck a chord in you. Had you really been that obvious? You weren’t a spy after all, you were a soldier. Your confusing, undisclosed “relationship” with Hill could get you both in a huge amount of trouble.

You cast your thoughts aside. She could very well choose to end what you have, reject any potential future involvement with you. You sigh softly, opting to focus on the winding tunnel ahead of you.

“Thinking about your girlfriend?”

“Adrian.”

“Okay, okay, I’m done, I’m done.”

You watch as a few cars come into view from your rearview mirrors. It wasn’t until the sound of gunshots echoed within the tunnels that you figured out something was wrong. A blue flash of energy flew towards one of the cars, obliterating it in the process. 

“What the fuck?!” you yell as you watch the remains of the car lose control, going up a ramp and flipping over. The destroyed vehicle swung slightly, stilling in a parallel position, blocking the other cars that had followed behind. 

“Do I shoot?!” Bennett asks as he pulls out his firearm, waiting on your orders. “Stay vigilant but don’t engage yet!” you tell Bennett as you reach for the communicator on your hip.

“Agent Hill, we’re in line of a hostile force, do we engage?!” you yell into your comms as you continue to drive forwards, speeding up as you go. The earth beneath your vehicle began to shake violently. 

“Engage, if possible, but focus on getting out, I won’t have any heroes tonight,” the strained voice of Maria crackles through. The hostile force’s vehicle passes you by, and Bennett trains his gun on it. 

“No heroes, Bennett,” you remind him, but watch the vehicle for any hostility. A man dressed in strange clothes sat in the cargo bed of the truck. He looked ill, but his eyes were fierce. A man on a mission.

 A few moments later, a truck skidded into the tunnel, narrowly avoiding collision with the wall. The car drifts, turning in a half circle to face the hostile force. Both vehicles collided, the backwards facing car attempting to slow down the hostiles. Shots flew from each vehicle, which prompted Bennett to shoot, too.

The strangely dressed man looked at the both of you, his eyes holding a cold determination. He pointed a bright gold staff at you and your eyes widened. Before anything could happen though, the hostile’s vehicle began swerving from side to side, shaking off the truck that was blocking its path. 

The driver recovered control quickly though and continued in hot pursuit. What sounds like a crackle of thunder follows closely behind you, much to your confusion. You stare through the rearview mirrors and watch as the tunnels begin to collapse, and it's gaining on you, fast. 

You press all the way down on the gas pedal, the vehicle lurching forwards with renewed ferocity. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” the string of swears leaves your mouth as the tunnel collapse seemed to be faster than your car ever could. 

“Fuck!” you scream as a large piece of the underground structure falls right in front of you. You turn the wheel hard in the attempt to dodge it to no avail. The rest of the structure continues to crumble, and you lose control of your vehicle. There was little you could do as the jeep was headed for what used to be a stone ceiling. You press down hard on the breaks and turn the wheel to the side. You crash against it, but not as hard as you expected. The last thing you see is what remains of the ceiling crashing on top of you as you raise your arms over your head.

Maria eventually abandoned her focus on trying to stop Barton and the hostile force. It would be all for naught if she was dead. She pressed down as hard as she could on the gas pedal, the vehicle going as fast as it could. It was not fast enough as the collapsing tunnel caught up to her.  

Maria’s head throbbed as she shifted from her position inside the trapped vehicle. She could feel blood dripping from her nose and fresh bruises forming in her arms and legs. The adrenaline from the chase was beginning to give out, exhaustion settling deep in her bones. She looked over the shifting rubble and debris of the now collapsed tunnels.

Did you manage to escape? She doesn’t remember seeing you or your jeep get out before she had. 

“Green leader, do you copy?” Hill spoke evenly into her communicator. She was met with the silent crackle of her device. “Green leader, do you copy?” she repeats herself, quietly begging for your response. Silence. Your name leaves her lips, dropping all formalities, her voice strained, “are you there?” 

There was still no answer from you. She began switching between radio frequencies, catching different snippets of reports as she did.

“--underground tunnels have colla–”

“--er coming in, several men are dow–”

“--act has been stolen from—”

She continued switching between frequencies until Coulson’s voice rang through her communicator, “Director? Director Fury, do you copy?”

“The Tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down. Hill?” Fury’s voice quickly followed.

“A lot of men still under. I don’t know how many survivors.” She says, breathing heavily as she climbed out of her mangled vehicle. The image of you being trapped under all this debris and rubble flashed before her eyes. Her heart momentarily stops, worry pulsing in waves throughout her body.

“Sound a general call. I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase,” Fury instructed.

“Roger that.”

“Coulson, get back to base. This is a Level Seven. As of right now, we are at war.”

Maria clenched her jaw as she processed the last few words. She knew what this meant, what was to come. Despite this, her thoughts wandered to you.

She finishes climbing out of the truck on shaky legs and moves past giant blocks of stone and rubble. Hill switched back to the channel you had last spoken through. She uses your call sign once more; it had dawned on her that, after the collapse, a signal might be non-existent, but she was still hoping to hear an answer. Once more, she was met with dreadful silence.

She calls out your name again, soft and anxious, “please be okay.”

May 2nd, 16:00 hrs, 14 hours later…

The Helicarrier was teeming with life, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents running around in preparation for the arrival of Fury’s new team. The Director had stepped out to recruit Steve Rogers himself, while the Black Widow had been pulled off mission to retrieve Dr. Banner and Agent Coulson had been sent to grab Tony Stark. 

Maria walked around the bridge, looking over the monitors of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents below her. Various agent profiles appeared on a few of the screens, other monitors occupied by mission reports, schematics, maps and graphics. 

Your picture on one of the monitors made her pause, a wave of anxiety courses through her body. She would not let it show though, presenting herself as the poster child of levelheadedness. She swallows hard as she walks closer to the monitor, crouching down beside the agent overlooking the incoming report. 

Her chest tightened when she saw you were still M.I.A. “What’s the status of the search and rescue?” Maria asks, subtly clenching her jaw as she stares at your picture. 

“It’s been slow, only about 31% of missing agents have been recovered, both dead and alive,” the agent, a short blonde, reported somberly, “There’s a lot of ground to cover and there are not enough teams available to work the mission.”

“Keep me updated,” Maria told the agent as she rose from her crouched position, “I want any and all new developments sent to my datapad.” 

“Yes, Commander.”

Maria returned to her position overseeing the main deck. She stared back down at the Main Deck Data Panels, overlooking the Helicarrier’s systems, routing ground teams for the search of Barton and setting up preparations for the Director’s team. Despite her attempts to focus on the influx of reports on Barton, Loki, and the status of Fury’s team, her mind would wonder and think of you. You, trapped under the rubble in the Jeep. You, potentially hurt. Potentially dead. A cold dread settled over chest as those thoughts consumed her mind.    

She stared down at the datapad, switching over to read the names of agents recovered from the facility.

Rodriguez, Vivian, M.I.A.

Porter, William, M.I.A.

Fitzgerald, Liliam, K.I.A.

Harris, Augustus, M.I.A.

Greene, Emiliano, Recovered.

She did not know what was worse, the fact that she had still not found your name on the list, or finding it and potentially reading K.I.A. The longer you went without being found, the less likely it would be a rescue and more of a recovery mission. She pushes the thought away. You will be fine. You are alive. You have to be.

“Commander,” Fury’s booming voice startles her out of her thoughts. 

“Yes, sir?” she asks, her voice firm, hiding having been caught off focus. She had not been informed that the Director had already returned to the Helicarrier. 

“Any progress on the Tesseract or Loki?” he asked, his voice stern. 

“Nothing yet, nothing has been reported on the ground and the techs are still in process of tapping all wireless cameras,” Hill reports as she looks up from her datapad.

“What about the rescue at the facility?”

“33% of agents have been rescued. About 12% of those have been found dead, but that statistic is slowly rising.”

The Director gave no reaction other than taking a deep breath. He raised his head slightly and his face remained neutral.

“Sir, due to those statistics, I want to reassign a few teams to aid in the search and rescue mission,” she states firmly. She held her head high and her posture straight. For a second, your face flashed in her mind and her heart sank a little deeper in her chest.

She was not doing it just for you. It was also for all the agents still trapped under the rubble and them being able to continue living their lives. That is what she was telling herself at least, feeling slightly guilty of the selfish part of her that was focused on you, and only you. Yet, for all she knew, you might already be dead. 

The thought made her stomach churn uncomfortably. She did not want to picture you trapped in those tunnels, crushed under the weight of an entire building. A heavy feeling made her heart sink to her stomach. Was there something she could have done to avoid this?

“Pull the remaining S.P.E.C.T.R.U.M. team and reassign them to the search and rescue, but that is all I can afford to compromise.” 

“Yes, sir,” A wave of relief momentarily soothed the drowning feeling in her heart. She began to walk away, to give the new orders before Fury called out for her once more.

“And Hill? I need you here,” Fury gives her a pointed, knowing look. The look made her somewhat nervous, but she nonetheless acknowledged him with a sharp nod, before returning to her position and reassigning the rest of your team for the search and rescue.

May 3rd, 20:37 hrs, 42 hours later…

Maria’s feet dragged her to her quarters, having been relieved of duty about ten minutes earlier. The last twelve hours had been rough, but the search for Loki had finally paid off. He was located at a gala in Stuttgart, Germany and Fury’s assembled team for the Avengers Initiative had just been dispatched to retrieve the Trickster god.

Her eyes were heavy with sleep and despite having just gotten off duty, her job was not quite done. She sat on top of her cot, her datapad in hand as she watched the stream of recent mission reports and updates on Barton and Loki. After reading those, she began looking through the recovery list, dread settling in her stomach once more. She scrolled through hundreds of agents' names, the status pinned right beside them.

Smith, Jonathan, K.I.A.

Badillo, Sarah, K.I.A.

Sullivan, Nina, K.I.A.

Pruny, Charlie, Recovered

Barrett, Daniel, K.I.A.

Maria swallowed hard as she continued to read the names of both fallen and recovered agents. She knows this is what happens in this line of work. She knows that as much as S.H.I.E.L.D. invests in making sure their agents come back safe, it is not a guarantee and that casualties are not something that can be avoided. There was still a lingering feeling of guilt and profound sorrow, knowing that not everyone gets to come back.

She rubs her eyes, trying to stave off the tiredness that settled into her bones. Your name has still not popped up on any of the reports, you are still missing. The sick feeling she had become well acquainted with returned. 

You cannot be dead. She refuses to believe that. Your last meeting replayed in her head. The disappointment and frustration in your eyes were burned into her mind. Your ultimatum rang inside her head.

Your face would appear every time she closed her eyes. She longed to see your smile again. For your eyes to sparkle with mischief, to feel your warm hand in hers. She wants to hear you laugh at a stupid joke. She missed the sound of your voice, the curve of your nose, the quirk of your lips. She missed you. She cannot lose you, not now, not yet. She loved you, you didn’t know that she lo–

Oh. Oh.

She was in love with you. 

The realization hit her like a bullet to the chest. She was in love with you. She had been so caught up in her job, so caught up in her own responsibilities, she never once realized how her own feelings had changed towards you. Part of her felt like a hypocrite. She had called you out on the near imperceivable changes in your behavior, but she had not realized how her own feelings had changed. How did she not realize it before?

She tries to think back to the last time she felt this way about someone. Has she ever felt that way before? She remembered her past relationships, having crushes and a bit of infatuation, but those had never developed into love.

She had always been married to her job. When she first joined S.H.I.E.L.D., she worked tirelessly to prove her worth as an agent. She rose through the ranks through hard and consistent work, becoming quite a formidable agent. She knew not everyone was on board with the Director’s pick of Second in Command. She did not mind it though, she had nothing to prove to those who disapproved. She knew she was always damn good at her job.

Perhaps that is why she did not realize her feelings before. Maybe that is why she had unfairly pushed you away. She leaned her head against the wall behind her, the horrid, guilty feeling coming back with an unyielding vengeance.

Why did she realize her feelings now? Why not before? Why did you have to be trapped under the damn tunnels, potentially dead? Why has no one found you yet? Why can’t she be there, searching for you herself?

She takes deep, even breaths as she works herself up again. No, she cannot afford that right now. You can’t be dead. She’s holding onto the hope that you are not dead.

She looks down at her datapad once more, a new set of agent names scrolling upwards.

Maguire, Christian, Recovered

Duque, Cristina, Recovered

Taylor, Rosa, K.I.A.

Buchi, Mamelu, Recovered

Bennett, Adrian, K.I.A.

Her heart stops as she spots your name. Her hands shook as she stared down at your status.

Recovered

A relieved laugh escapes her involuntarily. You are alive. You are still alive. The report said that you were in critical condition and were en route to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Trauma Centrum based in Nevada. She needed to see you.

The relief that had soothed her anxiety is short lived as she realizes she cannot leave yet. Her duties, responsibilities and the current state of the emergency the world finds itself in would not allow her to be with you at the moment. ‘I need you here,’ Fury’s voice reverberated in her head. She sighs deeply in frustration, guilt and relief playing tug-of-war with her heart. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispers quietly as she stares down at your profile. 

May 4th, 15:24 hrs, 61 hours later…

“Oh, and uh, as for the matter that’s not in question? Where you morons tried to nuke New York? Well, that’s on the record. As in we recorded it. We do that. We’re S.H.I.E.L.D.,” silence hung between all the council members as Maria continued. The council members would not look at her, the shame of their decision hanging over them.

“So, if you’re thinking about coming after Nick Fury, ever,” she emphasizes the last word as her fingers work the control panel to open the privacy door of the Helicarrier’s main deck, “Think really, really hard.” 

With a pointed look and a victorious smirk, she turns off the screen before rejoining the main deck.

“How did that go?” Fury approached beside her shortly after. 

“Sold you down the river, sir. You should have your job within the month,” she replied as she began overlooking the Main Deck Data Panels. 

“Good work,” he says before continuing, “you should maybe ask for a chair.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she says with an amused smile. She falters briefly though, as the Avengers make their way into her mind. 

“Sir, how does it work now? They’ve gone their separate ways. Some, pretty extremely far,” she walked alongside Fury as they made their way towards the large windows that oversaw the outside of the Helicarrier. She had had no faith in the Avengers Initiative. How did such a disjointed group with such different backgrounds ever function as a team? Who was to say they could do it again? “If we get into a situation like this again, what happens then?”

“They’ll come back,” he replies as if it were the simplest truth in the world.

“Are you really sure about that?” She did not quite know how his faith in this group could be so unwavering, especially after witnessing all their arguments before and during the recent battle. 

“I am,” he answers once again as if it were the easiest question on Earth.

“Why?” she asked earnestly. 

“Because we’ll need them to.”

A silent understanding passed between them as they overlooked the outside of the Helicarrier, agents running along the aviation runway. It was there that she understood that it was a play of faith. What had consistently carried the Avengers team was Fury’s belief in them, individually in each of them as well as in a group. It is that very same belief that would bring them together if any other event were to occur. 

            She takes a deep breath, her thoughts wondering to you once more. She has not been able to follow up on your status with everything that had happened since early that morning. A naive part of her wondered if maybe her belief that you would be okay had anything to do with your survival. 

Silence hung between both Director and Commander for a few moments. “Don’t you have somewhere to be, Agent Hill?” Fury asks suddenly, turning his head towards her and eyed her knowingly. 

“Sir?” Maria asks, startled. Did he know? How did he find out? Perhaps she had not hidden her emotions as masterfully as she thought. Perhaps they would both be in trouble for the duration of the month.

“Go, we’ll talk about this later,” his voice was stern, but it did not match his soft expression.

“Thank you, sir,” she replies in a similar tone, but a ghost of a smile makes its way onto her lips. She leaves his side and hurriedly leaves the main deck.

Fury watched his Second in Command walk away. With a small smile, he approved the take-off of a Quinjet heading for Nevada. 

May 4th, 20:12 hrs, 66 hours later…

Maria had not been allowed to see you for the first 2 hours since arriving at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Trauma Centrum in Nevada. She had to argue her way into seeing you, having been told that only spouses and family would be allowed to enter. She was successful in the end, though, having pulled her rank into the conversation. She was not entirely proud of it, but it got her in and that is all she cared about.

Eventually, she was able to meet with one of your doctors. She informed Maria that your next of kin had been notified of your current state. The doctor also explained your injuries and the status of your treatment. Several of your ribs had been broken, you had a punctured lung, a dislocated shoulder, and had suffered a concussion. One of your arms was shattered and it had been a miracle they did not have to amputate. Maria was both surprised and relieved your injuries were not more extensive. You have still not woken up since arriving at the Centrum.

She was allowed into your room shortly after the meeting with the doctor. Your non-dominant arm was covered in a white cast. The side of your face was heavily bruised and slightly swollen. Other bruises, stitched cuts and patched-up scrapes littered your face, arms and chest. You were paler than usual, and your eyes were slightly sunken. 

Maria swallowed hard as she took in the sight of you. It was hard to see you in such a state. She approached your bed slowly, as if moving too quickly would make you disappear. A soft beeping was the only sound in the room, aside from the gentle buzz of the air vents. 

She sat at your bedside, watching as your chest rose and fell, slow, steady breaths leaving you. It was the most beautiful sound she had heard in the last few days. She took your uninjured hand in hers, the coldness of your fingertips sending an involuntary shiver down her spine. She did not let go though, as she began to gently stroke the top of your hand with her thumb. You were here. You would be okay. She shifted around in the hospital chair in attempts to get comfortable, exhaustion of the past few days finally reaching her. She continued to hold your hand as she began to feel the lull of sleep calling her. 

She woke up when she felt you squeeze her hand ever so gently. Her eyes fluttered open, her body demanding sleep but her heart demanding to see you. Maria first saw her hand in yours and she raised her head to see you. Your eyes met hers, a lazy smile spreading over your lips. She smiled back as she took you in. Your eyes were droopy and slightly red. It was clear you were desperately fighting off sleep.

“Hey,” Maria whispered, running her thumb over the top of your hand soothingly.

“Hey,” you whispered back. Your voice was hoarse and thick with sleep, your eyes fluttering open and close.

“How are you feeling?” Maria asked worriedly.

“I’m tired,” you reply breathlessly, giving her a small, playful smile. Maria smiles back, raising her hand to rest beside your head, and begins to gently stroke your cheek. You lean into her touch, your eyes beginning to droop shut.

“Rest,” she commands softly. You continue to fight off sleep, struggling to open your eyes to stare back into hers. “No,” you whine softly, “I don’t want you to go away.”

“I won’t go away,” Maria replied, a pang of sympathy and guilt spreading in her chest. “Promise?” your eyes begin to close against your will once more. 

“I promise.” 

You continued to struggle against sleep for about a minute before slipping back into unconsciousness. Maria continued to stroke your cheek soothingly, watching your chest rise and fall in a rhythmic pattern. You were here, you were alive. Her hand found yours once more as she laid her head on the bed.

 “I won’t go away,” she repeated quietly as she watched you for a while longer, eventually falling asleep once more.

You were still asleep by the time she woke up again a few hours later. She sat up in her seat, her back popping and cracking as she did, a dull ache having settled throughout her body. She rolled her shoulders in attempts to loosen up her muscles as she walked towards the bathroom, hoping to quickly freshen up.

She notices you shifting in your bed as she quietly steps back into the room, your head lifting up when you notice her. You adjusted yourself to sit up on the bed, a pained wince decorating your features as you did. “Hey, hey, be careful,” Maria scolded, her tone soft and gentle, as she approached your bedside, “You’ve been out for a few days. How are you feeling?”

“I’m better. Less tired,” you reply, your voice cracking as you speak, before giving her a lazy smile. 

Maria cannot help but smile back at you, “That’s good to hear. Do you need anything?” You shake your head gently before resting your head against your pillow, your eyes fluttering shut for a few seconds.  

“You’re hurt,” you ask as you notice the stitches at the side of her brow.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m okay,” Maria replies as she sits beside you once more. She placed her hand on the bed, inches away from yours. 

You take her in. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she no longer wore her S.H.I.E.L.D. suit, instead wore a spare physical training uniform. Her eyes were tired, darkened bags hanging under her eyes. Bruises and small cuts littered her arms as well. Despite this, she held a small, unwavering smile.

Silence settled over the both of you for a few minutes. There was a far-off look to you, your eyes holding a mixture of guilt, worry and fear. Maria sighed quietly, guessing what you might be thinking about. 

“Did… did my team…?” your voice was quiet and pleading. Your eyes did not meet hers, fearing her expression would give away the answer before her lips could.

“Agent Bennett… he didn’t make it, sweetheart,” she says sympathetically, the soft, gentle tone never leaving her voice, “I’m sorry.”

A pained sigh escaped your lips as your eyes began to water. He had a son, one who had been living at the facility with him before everything went to hell. The boy had been evacuated at the beginning of the emergency. But now his father…

“And the rest?” you ask shakily.             “Harris, William and Parker made it out unscathed. Garcia was treated for minor injuries and is approved to return to her usual duties,” she answered in the same soft tone, offering you a sad smile. 

A few tears escaped your eyes, a mixture of sadness for your fallen friend and the relief of knowing the rest of your team had made it out. Maria had inched her hand closer, her fingers ghosting over yours. She gently held your hand when you didn’t pull away, giving it a soft squeeze and returning to stroke the top of your hand with her thumb.

            “So, um,” you begin to speak after a while, your voice still shaky and unsteady, “what-what did I miss?”

Maria knew you wanted to distract yourself from the news of the passing of your friend. She offered you a sad smile and a gentle squeeze of your hand before beginning to tell you about the last two days. From gathering the Avengers, to the loss of Agent Coulson, to the Hulk rampaging in the Helicarrier, to the battle of New York. You listened as intently as you could, the thought of your dead friend still hung in the forefront of your mind. 

Silence hung between the both of you for several minutes after Maria told you what you had missed. Her presence here confused you. She kept her promise, she stayed, but that surprised you. Why was she here? S.H.I.E.L.D. was dealing with the aftermath of an alien attack, yet she was sitting beside you, comforting you. The state in which your relationship currently stood does not warrant this, so why was she choosing to be here?

“Maria?” you ask tentatively. She looked into your eyes at the mention of her name. You swallowed down the bubble of fear that formed at the pit of your stomach, “What are we?”

The words said were just barely louder than the medical equipment in the room. Your gaze fell to your hands, watching as you twiddled with your thumbs. 

You suddenly feel her warm hand cup your cheek, gently guiding you to look at her. Her eyes held an earnest, vulnerable look, one that captured your heart and attention. “I thought I lost you, when you were trapped in the tunnels,” the sincerity in her voice almost caught you off guard, “and that scared me more than anything else.”

She squeezed your hand gently, as if to emphasize her point. The vulnerability in her eyes and her voice were something you had never been privy to before, and part of you almost doesn’t know how to react to it. 

“Even an alien invasion?” you give her a weak smile, while also mentally kicking yourself. This was not the moment for you to be making dumb jokes. Maria takes it in stride though, as she gives you an amused smile, “Yes, even an alien invasion.”

“I’m sorry for pushing you into making a decision you weren’t ready to make. I know how important your job is to you, and…” you apologize, your eyes falling to your hands once more.

“No, I’m sorry for pushing you away,” Maria does not want to hear your apologies. You have nothing to apologize for. All she wanted was you, she knew that now. “I… guess I hadn’t realized I had fallen in love with you, and those feelings scared me.”

Your eyes open wide at her confession as you raise your head to look at her, “You-you what?”

Maria’s eyes widened as well, not having realized what she admitted. For a brief moment of panic, she wanted to take it back. Maybe you were not in that place yet. But she reigns herself in and pushes that feeling away, before taking a deep breath and looking at you straight in the eye. She whispers your name oh so gently and lovingly, “I love you.”

A mixture of emotions, good and bad, swirled in her ocean-colored eyes like a storm. She was laying out the most vulnerable parts of herself to you, allowing herself to drop the emotional walls she had built around herself, letting you see how much she cared for you, letting you know she had fallen for you the way you fell for her.

“I love you, too,” you say softly, almost breathlessly. A quiet laugh escapes you as you say those words. You see as relief and pure joy fills her expression. She joins your laugh as she gently holds your face in her hands.

She leaned over you, capturing your lips in a soft kiss. A warm feeling erupted in your chest, a childlike glee overtaking you. Your lips moved in tandem with each other, following a familiar rhythm. Even so, this kiss felt different, it felt renewed and exciting and right. 

You deepened the kiss, placing your hand behind her neck, your fingers getting lost in her hair. That was until you pulled away to gasp for air, your lung capacity not quite what it used to be. She leaned her head against yours, a soft chuckle escaping her.

“Cheeky,” she whispered, her hot breath hitting against your face.

“Can you blame me?” you replied with a mischievous smile.

The door opened suddenly, revealing two nurses. Maria pulled away from you to look at the door, all parties in the room momentarily freezing as the intimate moment was interrupted. Neither you nor Maria had realized until now that your heart monitor had begun beeping rapidly, despite how loud it typically is. Your cheeks felt warm as you looked between Maria and the nurses.

“We heard the monitor– we’ll-we’ll come back later,” one of the nurses said sheepishly. “Sorry for interrupting, go on,” the other one said as they both stepped out.

Soft giggles escaped your lips once the door closed. Maria looked down at you, as she began to laugh, too. She begins to gently brush the hair on the top of your head. You rested your head against your pillow as you looked up at Maria lovingly. 

Maria sends you a big smile, the ones that showed pure love and happiness. Her eyes sparkled with a mixture of joy and relief and pure adoration. After days of the awful sinking feeling in her chest and the uncomfortable churning in her stomach, there was finally a lightness in her heart.

She leaned over you, placing a soft kiss on your lips once more.

[the-paper-shredder]

An Analysis on Berdly & Spamton's Parallels

(A.K.A. Robert “Toby” Fox what is the point of this. What did you mean by this? Answer me, Toby.)

So, Berdly and Spamton. The bluebird and the salesman. Ever since I watched this analysis on Berdly made by @/saraanzu, I've been losing my mind over the duo's parallels, despite the irony of them never meeting in canon.

(Long post ahead.)

Let's start with the basics: their appearance. Which, is admittedly, quite minimal compared to the other parallels.

Both have yellow in their color palettes. Both wear glasses, and in the dark world, Berdly shares a heterochromia-esque look with Spamton, to the point that official and fan artists alike sometimes interpret Berdly's dark world appearance as having multicolored glasses just like Spamton.

Not only that, both have connections to birds! Berdly is obvious, he's an anthropomorphic bird monster, while with Spamton... there's a bit to unpack.

His and the other Addisons' long noses could be interpreted as a beak. Spamton in his NEO form and the F1 sprite both have wings. Also, Toby once commented this on an announcement of the 🪺 emoji...

Funnily enough, this is just the description of the emoji with some words changed. While yes, this would imply pipis are eggs... they're canonically clams.

Either way, the Addisons could be birds in the same way the Tasques are cats. Which makes up only a sliver of Berdly and Spamton's parallels.

Now comes the start of the big boys. Berdly and Spamton's backstories.

Berdly describes his younger self as forgettable, before gaining a sudden spotlight when he got first place in the spelling bee due to Noelle's unfortunate circumstance. This resulted in his reliance on her abilities to stay as number one, while also being afraid of what will happen when they inevitably go their separate paths. Spamton's products didn't sell and “the Lightners never even looked his way,” until he found—or was found by—someone who helped him suddenly become a big shot. He was seemingly relying on that someone for his continued success, as when that person disappeared, abandoning him, he fell from status. (Additionally, Berdly technically “copying” Noelle's work so he stays number one is somewhat similar to Spamton copying Swatch's wardrobe in an effort to get into the basement.)

Spamton's the twisted reflection of the person Berdly could become in the future. The music track “Bluebird of Misfortune” thereby describes Berdly as misfortunate while the other Addisons describe Spamton as “Like the rest of us. Just... a little unlucky.” Suspiciously similar adjectives. Berdly's further misfortune isn't set in stone, as his spot in Chapter 2's story gives him the chance to change for the better. And, well, he does.

On top of these backstory parallels, it doesn't help that Berdly and Noelle are best friends while Spamton and Noelle know each other almost fondly through the latter's responses to the former's emails.

Additionally, Noelle is associated with the Angel. Weirdly enough, Berdly and Spamton both have ties to it as well. Birds have been seen as spirit messengers of the gods and in Christianity, angels are the messengers of God. “Birds remind us that there are angels,” Actress Jane Alexander once said in an article from 2013 on why birds matter. While the Angel in Hometown's religion is their god, it makes sense that Noelle being associated with it goes with Berdly speaking for her during certain parts of the game. He even refers to his halberd as holy.

With Spamton, it's fairly obvious. His F1 sprite has a halo and white wings, like a classical angel. The NEO form too, although it doesn't look particularly angelic, the wings and the torso armor bare a small resemblance to the Delta Rune symbol (I personally don't see it but this is mentioned on the Deltarune wiki page for Spamton so I'll add it for completeness). Finally, right before his second fight, Spamton reveals his desire to go to heaven (likely the light world or our world).

Onto the briefly foreshadowed next part of this analysis, Chapter 2's narrative and the duo's parallels there.

We first get reintroduced to Berdly when Kris, Susie, and Ralsei are on their respective roller coasters. Then his first fight starts, taking place during the roller coaster ride. This, obviously, parallels Spamton's second fight also taking place on roller coasters. Plus these two lines of dialogue are way too similar to have been unintentional.

Plus, at the end of Berdly's first fight his roller coaster explodes... similarly, in the case of fighting Spamton during his second fight (which the above line comes from), he explodes at the end.

Later on, Kris (along with Noelle) find Berdly in an alley where he initiates a battle. Only a few minutes afterward, Kris meets Spamton in yet another alley, to which he initiates a battle.

Now, before going onward, it's important to note that Berdly was being manipulated by Queen into helping her, which resulted in him chasing after her appreciation and her realizing he was annoying. She starts avoiding him... and in one of the conversations with Kris, he tells them “Don't tell me you got abandoned!? HA!!” and when questioned on Noelle and Queen's absence, he goes on the defensive, “They're just… busy retro gaming somewhere!! I bet they're waiting for me on the player select screen!!”

But the look on his face after he finishes keeping up the facade shows his insecurities.

Spamton has a similar sentiment. Invited by Queen to live at her mansion when he was a big shot before being evicted when he was no longer useful. In the weird route (which will have more analysis later), Spamton's dialogue in his battle has a lot of projection, “MUTTERING YOUR [Lost Friends] NAMES AT THE BOTTOM OF A [Dumpster]!” It reflects how the Addisons stopped hanging out with him, how the other residents and employees at Queen's mansion only watched his eviction, seemingly never attempting to reach out afterward.

Abandoned. Wanting the positive relationships you had back, but all you're left is... nothing.

Then comes Berdly's last fight, acting as Queen's puppet, even if he's not on literal puppet strings but on a wired plug. Unless you choose to ignore it, part of the goal of this fight is to loosen the plug so Berdly can pull himself free. Now think back to Spamton's second fight, the way to “spare” him is to cut him free from his new body's strings. Right before the control is free, both Berdly and Spamton comment on their appreciation for the help, too.

The narrative parallels between the nerdy bluebird and shady salesman don't stop there, though. As previously mentioned, the weird route brings up some... interesting points.

Once you're on the route and not planning on aborting it... Noelle becoming a party member marks a change, as the only two bosses going forward are Berdly and Spamton. No one else. They're the only people that truly stand in your way. It doesn't seem to be a coincidence that besides Kris and Noelle, two people connected to Berdly and Spamton, the latter duo are the only other people that know what you did.

And the worst part?

Spamton gives you the weapon that gives Noelle the ability to use Snowgrave. The spell that kills Berdly. If Spamton is the person Berdly could become, then Berdly is the person Spamton once was. And he's letting his new customers kill him, likely seeing the murder spree you force Kris and Noelle into as a way to get to NEO, to get to heaven. And when he's the only one keeping you from closing the foundation, he gets killed too. Noelle is forced into killing her best friend, then someone who's the twisted reflection of that friend.

Ironic that Berdly and Spamton never meet each other, isn't it? It's something like... the older equivalent to you in another world, the younger equivalent to you in another world, yet you don't even know each other exists. So close to coming across each other, yet through sheer chance they don't meet throughout their time existing in the same space.

Anyway...

That's all! For now, maybe. If I find any more parallels, I'll likely reblog this post with those additions. Quite fond of these two. (I'm also writing a fic about them that'll eventually get posted to AO3, so if you want to see more from me, that's something to look out for!)

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

Paul's reaction to being played on GDR radio

This quote is from the book "Wir wollen immer artig sein...Punk, New-Wave, Hip-hop und Independent-szene in der DDR von 1980-1990", pages 559 and 565.

The quote is from a chapter that has an interview with Lutz Schramm, presenter of the show 'Parocktikum' that was broadcast by the official GDR radio station, initially as part of the youth-program 'DT 64'. For more information on Parocktikum see wiki (de) and the website of Lutz Schramm at parocktikum.de which also contains a wiki to people and places from the era.

Interesting tidbit on the page for Flake which a.o. mentions the many collabs that Flake did like "Flake & Piet (mit ... Piet? Mancherorts wird behauptet, auch "Piet" wäre Paul Landers)" translated "Flake & Piet (with ... Piet? In some places it is claimed that "Piet" is also Paul Landers)". And announced recently was that on 7 feb 2025 Flake and Piet's release will be re-released 🌺 but back to the quote.. 😊

Lutz Schramm is asked which music he played (what he liked himself), if he was hindered a lot by officials (not very much, although he took care not to play too political songs like 'Anti-Armia' by 'Die Frirma'), how people and fans sent him cassettetapes to play (because there wasn't much else for bands to distribute their music), and what the artists in the 'scene' thought about being played on state radio.

Hat es denn Fälle von Distanzierungen von seiten der Szene zu deiner Sendung 'Parocktikum' gegeben?

Schramm: "Ja, zum Beispiel hat mich Paul Landers von Feeling B angerufen und mir mitgeteilt: 'Die Magdalene Keibel Combo hat in deiner Sendung nichts zu suchen, spiel die nicht!'. Ich hab dann am Telefon ein bißchen mit ihm rumdiskuttiert, er meinte: 'Die Leute kommen bei Konzerten zu uns und erzählen, ihr lauft da im Ost-Radio, das ist nicht so toll!' Ich erklärte ihm, ich spiel das, weil mir die Musik gefällt und nicht wegen irgendwelchen politischen Geschichten, aber er erwiderte, letztendlich geht es haptsächlich um die politischen Geschichten. Ich sagte ihm dann: 'Okay, wahrscheinlich hast du recht, dan lassen wir es eben'. Ich hab's dann einmal gespielt und sonst kein Verbot dafür bekommen. Solche Geschichten sind eben vor allem gelaufen, da gab es auch noch einige andere. Verhältnismäßig oft ist es passiert, daß Musiker gesagt oder geschrieben haben: 'Spiel uns nicht, weil das möglicherweise unsere Street-Credibility beschädigt'."

Um sich selbst vor staatlichem Zugriff zu schützen oder um ihre Fans nicht zu enttäuschen?

Schramm:"Eher das."

translated

Have there been any cases of distancing from the scene towards your show 'Parocktikum'?

Schramm: "Yes, for example, Paul Landers from Feeling B called me and told me: 'The Magdalene Keibel Combo has no place in your show, don't play it!'. I then argued a bit with him on the phone, he said : 'People come to us at concerts and say you're on East radio, that's not that great!' I explained to him that I was playing it because I liked the music and not because of any politics, but he replied that in the end it is mainly about politics. I then told him: 'Okay, you're probably right, so we'll leave it at this '. I played it once and didn't get bother for it. Stories like that happened, and there were quite a few others. What happened relatively a lot was musicians said or wrote: 'Don't play us, because of that possibly damages our Street credibility'."

To protect themselves from government access or not to disappoint your fans?

Schramm: "More the latter."

Lutz is also asked if all GDR bands were originals or just copies of english or american bands

Schramm:"Feeling B ist, glaube ich, das Authentischte, was du finden kannst, weil die auch nicht Musik im eigentlichen Sinne gemacht haben, die haben eben irgendwie nur irgendwas gemacht, das war so: plopp!

translated

Schramm: "Feeling B is, I think, the most authentic thing you can find, because they didn't make music in the actual sense, they just somehow did something, it was like: plop!

🌺

more quotes by or about Rammstein or related topics

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Hi, hope you are doing well. I've read some of your posts recently and you seem very knowledgeble on ASOIAF details, so I wanted to ask you this: I've read that the Stark Family Tree in TWOIAF have many wrong details. Do you have links for its corrections or perhapes a corrected version of the Tree? And do you know if the Lannister one has any errors? Thanks!

Yes, there's a few wrong details in the first edition of TWOIAF, which apparently should have been corrected in more recent editions. (Supposedly if you bought the Kindle version you can push an update? I can't seem to get it with my, um, unbought copy though.) The wiki's errata page is here, but let me copy the details for the Stark and Lannister trees:

Stark Lineage:[135]

Jocelyn Stark is mentioned to have married "Benedict Rodgers". However, this is supposed to be Benedict Royce. According to Elio Garcia, co-author of The World of Ice & Fire, Martin mistakenly called Royce "Benedict Vance" in earlier notes.[136] However, Harrold Rogers, the husband of Branda Stark, is correct.[137]

Munkun's True Telling says Cregan Stark had a younger brother who died in 119 AC.[138] However, in the family tree Cregan has no siblings.

For Rickon Stark (son of Cregan)'s daughters Serena Stark and Sansa Stark, Serena is marked as the elder one in the book. However, Sansa is the elder one in George R. R. Martin's notes.[139][140]

Bolded names in the family tree indicate that said person has ruled as Lord of Winterfell. However, the names of Rodwell Stark and Donnor Stark are not bolded, even though they had been Lords of Winterfell. This should have been corrected by the third print.[141]

Spelling of Mariah Stark's name is changed to Myriah in later prints.[134]

Lannister Lineage:[142]

Jaime Lannister's name is misspelled as "Jamie".

Joffrey Baratheon's name is misspelled as "Joffery".

Myrielle Lannister's name is misspelled as "Myielle".

Willem and Martyn Lannister are not listed to be twins, even though they have been stated to be twins on multiple occasions elsewhere.

Bolded names in the family tree indicate that said person has ruled as Lord of Casterly Rock. Neither Cersei nor Cerelle Lannister are marked as "ruling lord or kings". As both have been specifically stated to have been "Lady of Casterly Rock",[132][143] this is an ommission. Kevan Lannister's name is bolded, while he was never a ruling Lord. As Cersei has remained "Lady of Casterly Rock" despite the charges of high treason,[143] and has two heirs who would inherit from her before Kevan would, even if she was stripped from her rights to Casterly Rock, Kevan's name being bolded likely is a mistake.

Melesa Crakehall, the wife of Lyonel Frey, is missing from the family tree.

Hope that helps!

[yubellia]

Some kwami are more powerful than others and that’s a fact.

To be honest, I don‘t even know if that’s a theory or a fact. Just hear me out.

It is a fact that the writing in ML is…. Inconsistent and just meh… at times. It’s getting worse if you put time travel into the mix.

But there seems to be one thing that is consistent.

„The butterfly miraculous can do stuff it should not be able to do!“

Yeah. Our little Nooroo is a real powerhouse and once Cerise notices that (if she hasn’t already) our super heroes will be super screwed!

Why? Because Nooroo‘s power tapped into the territory of other kwami time and time again.

Speaking of time, we just saw it in the last special. Cerise uses the power of Timestalker to go back in time and follow ladybug. Any form of time travel should be Fluffs business. Maybe Sass if we really stretch it. And cerise isn‘t doing it once, she WILL be doing it again with Time Tagger. One of the other kwami, I think Orikko, told Gabriel that he can‘t let him time travel because that would be Fluff.

Turns out this idiot could have done it himself! Nooroo was right there! The only special thing about the rabbit miraculous seems to be the burrow. Which isn‘t even needed from what it looks like!

But it’s not just time. All the other ‚fake heroes‘? Anti-Bug? Volpina? Copy’s of real miraculous users and real kwami powers. And that was long before Gabriel stole the miraculous from Marinette.

So what is the show trying to tell us? It’s not just Nooroo either. The wiki page claims that Trixx, if he pushes his power enough, could change reality and make his illusions real.

Of course know that a wiki page is not always the best source for information but let’s just say that it is true. I don‘t know the episode.

If that is true, he is tapping into the territory of both Gimmi and Tikki! Tikki is one half of Gimmi so that’s probably why but you get what I’m saying yes? The show is breaking one of the biggest rules for the plot. Bravo!

I think we can expect a lot more from that in the future.

[olderthannetfic]

Hey OTNF! I recently acquired a huge box of (german) vintage fan zine (from around the 90s/00s mostly, with lost of Tatort and similar series) and I was thinking about archiving them online. Would scans of those be something one stores on ao3 or are there other sites more suitable for it? I know some zines have fanlore pages, but I gathered those are more wiki pages about it instead of the contents. Additionally: is scanning still the way to go about this?

--

Holy shit! Cool!

AO3 is not the place. AO3 only hosts things with permission, which you don't have from either the zine publishers or the individual contributors.

Some people put things on the Internet Archive.

Yes, scanning is usually the way, but it depends on your aims. There are good reasons to keep physical objects for historical preservation (longevity relative to digital copies, interesting info only available from the physical object itself that you might not think of today but would in 20 years). There are also good reasons to OCR fic or articles for easier reading online.

Be prepared for some people to be angry and tell you you have no right to preserve things. The ethics are complex. This will increase if the zines are fanfic rather than nonfiction discussion and will increase a hundredfold if the zines have anything gay in them.

If you can get permission from whomever made the zines, it does get easier to archive them more places.

[13hoursss]

ꪶꪖᦓꪻ ᥴꫝꪖꪀᥴꫀ

This google doc is a single-muse, it's for characters, and yes, I used Haruka as a placeholder. Enjoy using this doc, I don't know what else to say honestly. Credit to @ayzrules for inspiring me.

𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 !

( ♦ ) Any text, again, be careful and don't overwrite the limit. If it does, it'll expand to a new page. ( ♦ ) All images are drawings! Keep this in mind while editing. ( ♦ ) You can keep or get rid of gradients. ( ♦ ) You can add a "penned by [user]" if you'd like.

𝗨𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 !

( ♦ ) DO NOT remove credits! It's okay to add a 'penned by [user]', but don't remove my credits. ( ♦ ) My credits can be found in ( ˙◠˙ ) ( ♦ ) FILE > make a copy

( ✒ ) reblogs and likes are appreciated.

( ✒ ) If you want any changes then please tell me.

( ! ) All images are from the MILGRAM fandom wiki

( ! ) The header text is inspired by @ayzrules-art/ ayzrules. Go check them out! She's amazing.

[greenhorn-art]

Castles in the Sky by Shadaras @shadaras

Fandom: 全职高手 | The King's Avatar

Rating: General Audiences

Category: Gen

Relationships: Chu Yunxiu/Ye Xiu

Words: 36 613

Here are two truths and a lie: Chu Yunxiu is Misty Rain’s captain. Chu Yunxiu is dating Ye Qiu. Chu Yunxiu is happy to have the Shu twins on her team. Of course, a lie can become true if you believe in it enough… (A Chu Yunxiu character study.)

About the book:

FONTS: Alegreya [Google Fonts], Raleway [Google Fonts], Catchy Mager [purchased from MyFonts], Segoe UI Emoji

IMAGES: Clouds from Rawpixel (ID: 9581058); Misty Rain logo from The King's Avatar Wiki (stretched slightly horizontally and traced)

MATERIALS: Domtar Earthchoice multipurpose copy paper, cream, 11"x17" cut in half to form short-grained letter size paper; Recollections' Gilded Ink paper pad; Cialux bookcloth, black; heat transfer foil, gold; 2mm binder board; waxed linen thread, 30/3 size; wheat paste (this time I used 1:4 flour to water ratio, and heated until conditioner-like consistency. An improvement over last attempt.)

PROGRAMS USED: typeset in LibreOffice Writer; title page mocked-up in Procreate then designed in GIMP; imposed with Renegade's Community Imposer.

I spied this fic towards the top of the kudos and kept it in the back of my mind while trawling for more HanYe fics. Thought, well it's gotta be there for a reason so should be good! ooh look aroace queerplatonic relationship 👀👀 Definitely bumping up to top of Read Next!

The amazing thing I've found about The King's Avatar is that the CP possibilities are endless! The characters are both friends and rivals, there's respect and history and it all mixes and clashes creating more possibilities and chemistries than I've ever seen in a fandom before. The fact that AllYe is so popular (and not just in an NSFW way) is testament to it, and also, in part, what drew me to this fic. Asexual representation is scant, aromantic even more so — especially in fandom (in my experience of it at least).

If I were to add a tag to describe Castles in the Sky it would be 'heartwarming'. Shadaras' writing and characterization is wonderful, and I really enjoyed the both the story and the aroace representation. They took a character with relatively little content (in comparison to others in fandom. I have not read the source material) and gave her a voice, dreams, and made me really care about her. I was touched, and after finishing it I jumped to my laptop and set about turning it into a physical book.

So, onto the details.

The thing that stuck out and stayed with me the most about the story was the aroace aspect (Shadaras fed my smol aroace heart so well), so that's what I focused on design-wise.

The title page features a large black ring, referencing the black ring worn usually on the middle finger of the right hand as a symbol of asexuality. The colours of the asexual pride flag are also represented: the text is purple; the clouds colour the page in shades of white and grey; and the ring is black. For the endpapers/cover backing I chose paper that mixes green, purple, and blue: green for the aromantic pride flag; purple for the ace. I also found the green-blue mix of colours to be rather fitting, inspired by the description of Misty Rain's HQ with the "cool blues and greens of Misty Rain's walls" (chapter 5: Transformations). While I personally find CYX's relationship with YX significant, her relationship with her team is just as important.

When choosing which cover each endpaper goes on, I thought about how the story begins with CYX and YX's relationship, and about how after it's established we see her team and it's future at the forefront of her mind. Following that line of thought I put the paper with more purple on the front cover (purple for aroace CYX), and the more green-blue paper on the back (Misty Rain's colours).

The process of foiling the cover took me 3 hours (the length of the movie RRR — good movie actually, would recommend. Which is surprising because I usually find Oscar movies rather boring). The foiling was done with a heat pen. Three hours is not the norm: first, I had the foil backwards and foiled my template instead of the cover; then, my power banks kept dying, so I had to take charging breaks, and I also went over everything again just to make sure that I didn't miss a spot; and of course I was also watching a movie while working, so that ate up some time too.

I had initially planned to bind it as a casebound book, but I didn't have enough time to do it (I was about to go on vacation and wanted to read the book in my downtime). Instead, I did a Coptic binding. The covers were pulled from the press and foiled leaving me 5 hours of sleep to spare.

I went simple on the outer covers to contrast the fun paper on the inside of the covers. I used black Cialux bookcloth instead of my green-blue 'petrol' Iris bookcloth for the contrast, and because it picks up the black from the title page. The text foiled onto the cover is a simple sans serif (Raleway, the same as used inside), and the image is Misty Rain's logo from the donghua. (Image came from The King's Avatar Wiki. It was stretched slightly horizontally because it seemed a bit squished compared to other versions seen on Google, and then traced). Using the colourful paper inside was a practical choice: I couldn't get two covers out of one sheet of paper, but one sheet would do the inner covers with some material leftover.

The sewing and construction of the book was done while camping — I'd packed up what I needed and brought it with me: the signatures (folded and punched); the finished covers; thread; a needle; and an awl. As for the actual sewing, it's supposed to be Coptic but don't look too closely. This was the second time I've tried Coptic stitching and I didn't have any instructions with me. (My first Coptic binding was a thin 2-signature notebook I did a few weeks ago. It was for taking notes at the event I was at, Pennsic War 50).

Book is primarily set in Alegreya. It's currently my favourite body font, and has a matching sans serif family. The fonts used in the title page are Raleway and Catchy Mager. Raleway is also used for titles, headings, etc. Segoe UI Emoji was used for any emojis that cropped up throughout the text (Pretty sure they're the same emojis as seen while reading on my phone and laptop). Catchy Mager was purchased from MyFont. (The first and only font I have ever bought, but I saw it used in a fic's title art and fell in love.)

Lastly, onto The Comedy of Errors, or: When-You-Finally-See-All-the-Typos-and-Mistakes-Once-You're-Done-and-Can-Only-Laugh-While-You-Cry-Inside.

Appendix's footer says 'Epilogue', so I must have missed something with the paragraph style for the Appendix heading.

Forgot about using Segoe UI Emoji font and did not include it in the About the Book.

Missed fixing the archive info for gnomen in the Author's Notes — the copy/paste of metadata into Notebook to remove formatting also removed the commas and spaces between tags.

Because I hadn't planned cover materials/design before printing, there isn't a section for that in the About the Book. Also the reason why the artwork on the cover is not credited in it, as I had not planned to use it.

[kipperzz]

decided to post some of my theories on @magebunkshelf's server on Θ the moon being in Mitch's world. Just going to directly copy and paste my stuff from the server to here so that other's can join the conversation

currently going through Θ's wiki page and I noticed this quote

"Every string anchors me to you.[6] I was fading into the dark, but… the threads slowed me. No longer. I can make more threads, yes… Hold them tight to me, bind them together, make the connection stronger, tangible. No longer falling… Coming closer. Coming home."

the threads mentioned are certainly connected to cipher three with needle thread needle embrace but I'm not yet sure how. some things this quote I believe does confirm is that Θ was from earth and is using the moon and the threads they're making to return back since the moon is now drifting towards earth and no longer away from it. perhaps the demihumans are the anchors that is helping Θ return home but I'm not sure

a theory I was thinking was Θ is being used is because the circle is the moon and the line in the middle is the entity cause Ο or Omicron wasn't used as the stand in name (we know Θ is not the actual name due to a response Mage has given to a question on tumblr) which O is another letter of the Greek alphabet (edited)

it might be possible that Θ is actually the moon seeing how recent the demihumans are I think they started appearing after the apollo missions due to those missions brought back moon rocks, possible being pieces of Θ

that's all of my ideas so far, I'll listen to the lunar mission audio to try to figure out more lore cause I haven't listened to it in over a year.

[isat-script-project]

Hello! I was wondering if there’s any way to help with the script project. I was curious, because I was already planning on writing down a lot of the dialogue for reference. And thought I’d be nice if I was able to help more people find certain dialogue.

Have a nice day!

There is, in fact! You may want to check out the github in the pinned post~

As for how that all actually works out, we have some guides in the Wiki section, but not a whole lot because uhhh i got bored writing em!

It's kinda tricky though, because you prolly gotta have rpgmaker mv so you can figure out what conditional text happens when (suuuper early pages were made without and they're bad 👎 you can tell i didnt know what i was doing lol) [for getting rpgmaker mv though. winks]

the most useful thing to do is to format text in the site's style because everything has to be copy pasted from game files anyways. Putting game text into a plainer text format is not actually all that much faster to format than game text? Since the formatting step takes up the most time.

In the projects section, you also get a great overview of what's being done atm and who's doing it, as well as the fancy progression trackers~ or you can pick something no one's considered yet and do that instead!

TLDR: sorry if i made it seem intimidating. Yes you can help out but it's kinda technical! And probably at minimum requires rpgmaker MV and a program for writing html. Though I am always happy for any attempt!!

We've so got a discord server but it's private because i dont want ppl to join for rubbernecking ysee

Thank you for your interest!!

[radioregine]

Hi! Thanks for the reblog! 🤗 You mentioned being into writing that explores the "meta part" of fanfic - YES!! Are there other people who do this/fics you can recommend?

yes indeeeed. below are works surrounding this topic i've really enjoyed over the past decade:

-> TRAD PUB. BOOKS

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell [link to NPR review] this came out when i was finishing high school + starting to get disillusioned w HP (for story reasons & 'the author is Unforgivably Shitty' reasons lol) so i was very intrigued with how this book worked as a metacommentary abt HP (seriously, it felt like the book was deconstructing a lot of the issues fans had with the o.g. canon) while being a cute fantasy in its own right. i haven't checked out the sequels yet

New Waves by Kevin Nguyen [link to LA Times review] i read this a year or two ago and enjoyed what it had to say about online vs IRL friendships, grief, hustle culture, and creative identity.

-> FANFIC PROJECTS

running after two hares by chaparral_crown on ao3 this is probably my favorite fic of all time. no exaggeration. i have the whole thing printed out on 200+ pages of copy paper bound with comically large binder clips. and it's not even finished! there's this fanon concept called HEU (Hannibal Extended Universe) where people consider all of the different characters that the main actors played outside the show (in other shows, film, etc) to be connected to the showverse. for some reason i've never been able to suspend my disbelief enough to get into a lot of HEU content. i'm picky about fic just as i am with any other creative writing i engage with -- i have been for most of my life. THEN. i come across this author's insanely popular HEU fic, and i've read non-HEU stuff from them before that i adored, so i figure 'why not' ... and this 'crack treated seriously' quickly became one of my fav things ever. the prose alone is so masterful. and it's such a DENSE read, like, you really gotta slow down to appreciate all the introspective asides and jokes and commentary about the text (show) and metacommentary about how unusual pairings thrive, inside and outside of fiction.

Starsky & Hutch Virtual Season [link to Fanlore wiki] i got into S&H fandom in 2012. i remember how intrigued i was at the concept of the Virtual Season, which had its heyday a decade before i got into the online fandom. this kind of fan activity is the precursor, imo, to stuff like people calling installments of their webnovels 'episodes', the concept of a 'dream season' (ex: how hannibal ppl talk about how season 4 would play out if the show hadn't been cancelled), etc. people weren't just writing serialized fic, they were cultivating a really unique Experience

-> COMMENTATORS / ESSAYISTS

Shipper's Guide to the Galaxy (has not updated their channel in years but has such a huge backlog of thoughtful content about the relationship between media and its fans, including entire segments dedicated to fic recs)

Fionapollo (discovered them recently! i used to watch a lot of art commentary channels that preceded this one, and i'm obsessed w this channel because they focus more on the philosophy of creative practice & cultivating community between fans and media, rather than feeding into toxicity for views. they cover negative topics sometimes, yeah, but not in a sensationalist way at all. super refreshing)

[nothoughtsgarf]

Regarding Garfield.Fandom.com and the Future of NoThoughtsGarf

This is an issue that I have been semi-aware of for some time now, and i figured I should face it head on by asking what you all think.

Should I switch sourcing from GoComics.com/Garfield to Garfield.Fandom.com? This would increase the comic quality, but may decrease the 'ease of access' to the original comic

Explanation + My Thoughts under the Read More

I've had this on my mind since August 2023, but it's really come to a point... at this point. I've come across a few issues while editing these comics, which I've been very vocal about in many of the 'read more' sections. How the lattice backgrounds are so annoying, and clouds/bushes are my greatest enemies >:( , and most importantly, how low resolution some of the 'meme' comic panels ("Garfield in a padded cell" and "Garfield thrown through a window") are on GoComic.

In the past, it was only when there was a misprint in GoComic that I would try Fandom because I find the website irritating to navigate and cumbersome to link to. No shade intended to the wonderful people of Garfield.Fandom, but it just feels awkward to link to the pages since the comics are grouped by month. So any curious Garfers would need to scroll past ads and other stuff to find a date's comic, or I have to link the image directly, hoping it doesn't break or change over time.

Since GoComic has each comic on a standalone page, I can link the page and know that the comic will be right there on the screen. You can go to the next comic by pressing the next button, go to a specific comic with the date selector (useful for sunday comics), or change the url to find a certain date very easily

Fandom: https://garfield.fandom.com/wiki/Garfield,_May_1981_comic_strips?file=1981-05-18.gif

GoComic: https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1981/05/18

gocomics.com/garfield/<YEAR>/<MONTH>/<DAY>

Linking aside, the real crux of the issue is that many of the earlier comics (especially pre-2000s) are simply more vibrant, colorful, and high-res on Garfield.Fandom

Most strikingly is that some of the comics where I'm having a Bad Time™ due to mushy patterns or gristly gradients are actually less of a problem.

A (possible) downside to better fidelity is that mistakes may end up being more apparent (which may mean more community participation ?). but for the later comics (2010-present) there's not that much of a difference between the websites.

And most selfish of all, I already have my macros set for GoComic, so that I can pull up the page, press f9, and then the image, the date, and the links are all pulled faster and more consistently than copying and typing by hand (my keyboard has a tendency to double up or miss some letters, my fingers have a tendency to misspell words and smear letters). So I just don't want to redo it again.

Thanks for reading all this, and for enjoying the comics so far. It's been very fulfilling to do this. The queue is still locked and loaded to continue with the comics I've already edited, but I figured that this was important enough to bump into the queue so we can feel out how this should all continue :)

[lesbianatomy]

havent been on tumblr for a while but i have been rewatching yuri on ice recently (yes, its that time of the year) & ive been listening to stammi vicino almost non-stop (thank god spotify wrapped alr came out bcs im inclined to believe it wouldve been my top song for this year otherwise) so needless to say i have heard this exact song looped many times & tell me why i just realized that we hear two different versions of it in the anime !!!!!!

im sure many avid fans of the show have long known this already, which is truly embarrassing for myself, having grown up in a music school, but i digress. the first is the original stammi vicino, used in viktor's fs program (the one that yuri famously copies). the other is the duet version we hear during yuri and viktor's pair skate in the former's exhibition.

there are quite a lot of noticeable differences. firstly, the duet is cut in length; perhaps because they didnt require the full duration of the song for the part that it was included in or other reasons, but i think its notable to acknowledge the lyrics that were excluded:

With a sword I wish I could cut those throats singing about love I wish I could enclose in ice the hands that write those verses of burning passion

This story that has no meaning Will vanish tonight together with the stars If I could see you, eternity will be born from hope

this is taken straight from the yoi wiki page. essentially, in the original this can be interpreted as viktor mourning his loneliness and yearning for a great love. its highly sentimental but also bitter in a way, even. viktor's status as someone of incredible fame and talent has distanced him from life and love, which is ironic given that he is now skating to a love song. the music naturally reflects this: cmiiw but i think the ensemble fits the standard of an orchestra from the romantic period; you can tell from the dramatic use of percussion, wind instruments, and the grandiose crescendos and range of emotion in general. the way i see it, this very much encapsulates what viktor is actually skating about: it displays itself as a very bold declaration of love, in line with viktor's reputation as a legendary, almost mythic figure, but the reality is that no one is there to stay close to him. he is begging for a love that does not exist; an absence of it.

compared to the original, the duet is much more subdued, but no less sentimental. there is a sweeter, more assured quality to it that i feel is missing from the other version, which is clearly yuri's effect on viktor's life. i remember reading a fic recently about how the main instruments used in yuri on ice (the song) aka the piano and the violin actually represent yuri and viktor's respective roles in yuri's journey, though i believe they also took inspiration from someone else's idea. regardless, thank you to whoever it was that initially came up with that analysis!!!!! because of that i understand why the duet begins with piano instead of a wind instrument like in the original; another nod to yuri's presence. there's also a much clearer emphasis on the violin in the duet!

(also, idk about you but when i listen to the duet as it nears the end, even though they never show the full exhibition program, its so easy to imagine how they continue skating the rest of the routine. down to the ending pose & everything. just soooo visceral and excellent)

whew. long-winded rant about stammi vicino over. i love this song & i genuinely think that even if you have no interest in yoi you should still listen to the soundtrack (passacaille in barcelona & kamome are in my top 3). worth ittttt

[haravatat-slime]

Lore Rant: Ars Goetia Review and Speculation, 4.0 Edition

Yes, I know - Genshin fans and loremongers have done this a hundred times. It's everywhere on the wiki; we've been digging up info on the "demonic names" of the Archons (and non-Archon gods!) for as long as Genshin has been out. But I want to make a post about it, damn it, and so I will. Hopefully it'll make a nice point of reference that's easier to examine as a whole document than hopping around from wiki page to wiki page.

I also want to include a little speculation and some miscellaneous info I gleaned from looking at a facsimile of the actual Ars Goetia (second edition, ed. Aleister Crowley, you prick) I happened to find at work. It's a small book but the sucker is dense. Even so, i came across a couple things I found interesting enough to share.

I. Goetic Demons Referenced in Genshin(as of 4.0)

Baal/Bael (Makoto & Ei) - King : "rules over the East," can provide the sorcerer invoking them with invisibility. (It should be noted that although the only "true" Baal in Genshin is Makoto, Ei is also referred to as Baal. Beelzebul [Ei's true demonic name] is not spoken of directly in the Ars Goetia, as the name is synonymous with Baal [Ba'al-zebul, NOT Beelzebub] - who, other than being mentioned briefly as a ruler over demons in the Bible, has basically nothing attributed to him.)

Amon/Amun (Deshret) - Marquis : depicted as a fire-breathing wolf with a serpent's tail; knows all things past and future. (this gets repeated a LOT, and with very specific figures.)

Barbatos (Venti) - Duke : associated with Sagittarius (the archer constellation) ; can talk to animals ; can talk to animals ; knows all things past and future. (Though it may be coincidental, an illustration in the copy of the Goetia I was reading from had Barbatos depicted as an elf-eared man surrounded by horns playing music.)

Paimon (...Paimon) - King : "very obedient unto Lucifer" ; supposed to have a "great roaring voice" that makes it impossible to understand him upon first summoning (lmao) ; not only knows of all things past and future but also knows about the World/Earth and how it "floats upon the Seas" ; associated with the West. (will discuss this later in the post.)

Buer (Nahida) - President : associated with Sagittarius (less meaningful than Barbatos, but maybe there's something there) ; teaches Philosophy and Logic ; knows the "virtues" of herbs and plants and can heal all diseases

Morax (Zhongli) - Earl AND President : depicted as a bull with a man's face (may be referenced in Venti's voice lines, as he calls him a "stubborn blockhead" in CN) ; knows Astronomy, "Liberal Sciences," and the virtues of all herbs and stones (referenced heavily in the Liyue Archon Quest)

Naberius - Marquis : depicted as a black bird or crane ; knowledgable in art and rhetoric. (We know basically nothing about Naberius, except that Gold and Albedo [in his character story] found an artifact called the Heart of Naberius in a dungeon, and that after finding it, Albedo was entrusted with "finding the truth of the world." We can't automatically conclude that Naberius was a dragon based solely on its depiction in the Goetia, as it seems HYV picked and chose which depictions they wanted to reference - but I don't think it would be a stretch if it was.)

Astaroth (Istaroth) - Duke : depicted as an angel riding a dragon, carrying a viper in one hand (sick.) ; knows all things past and future ; has knowledge of "why the Spirits fell."

Marchosias (Guoba!) - Marquis : has a similar description to Amun (wolf with serpent's tail) ; likewise breathes fire. (While Guoba isn't extremely important to the overall story in Teyvat, I find it's worth mentioning him because he was technically the first mention of a god losing its memories and shrinking into a smaller form after expending a great deal of elemental energy - which is exactly what happened to Nahida and, I strongly believe, other godscoughPaimoncough.)

Focalor (Furina) - Duke : depicted as a man with gryphon's wings (there are a LOT of gryphon statues in Fontaine!) ; capable of drowning men and overturning war ships ; controls the seas

Haagenti (Guizhong) - President : teaches men how to transmute all metals into gold (Because I can't leave well enough alone, I definitely think there's an implication here about Guizhong being the one who actually brought gold/Mora to Liyue. The Zhongli of the past was better known for his martial prowess than his intelligence - which I find hilarious considering the Zhongli we know now - and so I suspect his current role as God of Commerce came from things she taught him.)

Orobas (Orobashi) - Prince : can discover all things past and future (note: written in a more passive way than other "knowledge of all things" demons; as though he takes a passive role and gives the ability to the summoner, rather than just telling them) ; gives true answers about the creation of the world. (I like to take this description from the Goetia as a sign that everything Orobashi learned from Before Sun and Moon was true and accurate - why else would Celestia try so hard to silence him?)

Ose (Oz???) - President : can convince a target (specified by the summoner) that they're something they're not. (Oz often gets mentioned in this line-up because he's listed right before a demon named Amy (Fischl) - who doesn't really do anything special that other demons can't already do. I used to think this was coincidental but ultimately pointless speculation, since...well, Fischl's a human, right? But there has to be a reason why Oz exists, and an answer to where he came from. I'll be mentioning it in a future discussion. :9)

Andras (Andrius) - Marquis : depicted as riding a black wolf ; aggro as heck and will kill you if you're not paying attention to what you're doing. (Might be a reference to his role as a boss.)

Haures/Havres (Havria) - Duke : like Orobas, has knowledge of all things and will give answers about the creation of the world ; notably, will lie if not bound correctly. (Very little is written about Havres otherwise; the lying part of the description may be a reference to how Havria's story was altered in Liyue as time passed.)

Decarabia (n) - Duke : takes the form of a pentacle ; knows virtue of all stones and all birds. (I went through Decarabian's wiki page a couple times and I can't find a direct reference to birds anywhere. What I can offer in terms of speculation is that they may have used this as a reference to how he essentially made Old Mondstadt into a cage [with his people trapped as birds might be], or how Dvalin [who inhabits Decarabian's tower after his fall] has birdlike plumage. Avian symbols are all over in Genshin, but I don't know if they have much to do with Decarabia in general.)

II. Miscellaneous Notes & Speculations

According to the Goetia (and corroborated by me, just now, on the internet), the word "demon" is derived from Proto-European daimon which means something akin to "divider" (of fates/destinies). Plato (hi) later claimed that his term daemon as meaning something closer to "knowing." For ancient Greeks, daemons weren't actual beings so much as intermediary forces somewhere between mortal and divine - at least, not until the Hellenistic Age, when Greek culture got thrown in with Egyptian and Persian/West Asian influences and mixed like a bag of Shake 'Em Up Fries, and daemons became something more akin to djinn.

Eleazar (Hebrew priest) is mentioned in the Goetia as a 1st-century "contemporary" of King Solomon, who allegedly used a ring to expel a demon out of some guy's nose, in front of eyewitnesses. I found it extremely interesting that this is where Eleazar gets its namesake, since it has more in common with a demonic possession (something something evil illness) than said possession's exorcism. I had a pet theory a long time ago that Eleazar manifested the way it does (black scales) because it's slowly turning those experiencing it into dragons, like a form of devolution? While I never really got confirmation for this, we should consider that Forbidden Knowledge was brought and filtered into Teyvat by the Dragon Sovereigns, where it mixed with their anger and desire to be rid of the Primordial One's influence. Since humans are a product of said influence, the name Eleazar makes a little more sense: it's the will of the dragons attempting to "exorcise" the energies that they deemed evil.

Aleister Crowley's versions of Goetic rituals (unclear whether it's like this in other versions, as, again, it's really hard to parse which parts of the Key of Solomon are legit, and which he made up) assigns Osiris (or possibly Horus?) as the "creator god." The declaration that his creator god is an "invisible god who dwells in the void" suggests more of the former (Osiris being the god of the underworld), while Horus's association with the dawn/morning star is more reminiscent of Lucifer.

There are supposed to be four demon kings which govern the cardinal directions. Nobody seems to be able to agree who they are, but Paimon is mentioned pretty regularly as the king who governs the West. While this is pure speculation, I believe this may act to further associate Paimon with the Seelie, as the old Seelie Kingdom is supposed to be a barren wasteland, and the most barren wasteland we know of (the Mare Jivari) is supposed to be the furthest point opposite Mondstadt (i.e. to the West).

King Solomon was known for trapping the demons he summoned into a brass vessel. This is openly acknowledged in the Goetia as being similar to how the djinn of Arabian myth was captured in a bottle. Brass is regularly mentioned in Sumeru in reference to Jinn, Shiruyeh and Brass Mask Uprising.

The second half of the Goetia is written in Enochian with English translation, but is essentially the same as the rituals portion of the first half. Worth mentioning that the Abyss mages may or may not speak Enochian, although most translations of said Enochian come up as gibberish.

I ignored most of the spells/rituals in the book, but I did come across one that felt EXTREMELY relevant: the "Curse Of The Spirit's Chain Against Those Who Rebel." In the event that the demon a summoner is trying to work with isn't acting in accordance to their wishes, a parchment with the demon's name is shoved into a black box and bound with iron wire. This act "sends (the demon) to the Abyss to remain unto the day of Doom in chains." So kind of like this?

Food for thought.

As always, lmk if I missed anything, and drop an ask if you want to discuss topics or theories!