#by god.........they were swordswomen.

[kreachvera]

#(chucks this on the floor) kya! eww what is that (runs away) (hits head on low hanging branch and bleeds out into the snow) #theyre funny as hell. to me. #step into my mind. feed on my boring yuri nothingslop. #this has no literate standing other than i thought their interactions were funny. #crow voice: ​(stirring finger around the rim of my glass) haha ur soooo boring. ahhh i want to kill you lol❤️ #and they were swordswomen. #by god.........they were swordswomen. #crow kuruwaba #ky kiske #guilty gear #robart #btw they will find me dead in colerado next monday at 7:12am

[rinzis]

writing about my new genshin oc??? okay?????okay!!!!!! i’m on mobile so i can’t add the read more option i’m so sorry

—

details

—

name: kiyoharu misa

birthday: august 3rd

sex/pronouns: female, she/her

region: inazuma

constellation: lunam lilia

vision: electro

weapon: sword

rarity: 5*

title: princess of the kiyoharu household, moonlit swordsmaiden (unofficial)

affiliation: kiyoharu clan, the resistance

—

synopsis

—

the princess of the fallen household kiyoharu. she carries a patterned umbrella which she is seldom seen without, and within which lies her precious katana. a gentle yet influential soul, she is well known for her impressive swordsmanship throughout the resistance in inazuma.

—

character story

—

character details

at first glance, people might not think that kiyoharu misa was anything special. seeing a young woman strolling through the land of inazuma carrying an intricate paper umbrella would not faze anyone. but, under this delicate guise, misa conceals both her dear katana and her vision.

the princess of the kiyoharu household is known to be a gentle soul who yearns for freedom from the raiden shogun and the tenryou commission. since her childhood, she has always been fascinated by the moon and its rays, a particular trait of kiyoharu descendants. misa earned herself the title of ‘moonlit swordsmaiden’ after combining her unparalleled swordsmanship with her illuminated vision.

story 1

the kiyoharu clan was once a widely respected and loved clan across inazuma. the household was known for its tendency to produce talented swordsmen who earn themselves visions through selflessness and helping others, and for this reason they were seen as high nobility. however, members of the kiyoharu household were reluctant in hiring many maids or servants - they believe that if one can be capable of harnessing the power gifted by gods through blade alone, one should also be able to cook a simple meal, or wash their own clothing. through this doctrine the kiyoharu descendants earned themselves unwavering respect from all citizens of inazuma, and even the raiden shogun herself - for a while.

story 2

descendants such as misa are taught from a young age to honour their ancestors, but also those who currently serve inazuma as well. misa excelled in swordsmanship, being able to wield a blade so gracefully to the point where it appeared as though she was dancing, using it as simply an accessory. the leader of the clan gifted to her a delicate paper umbrella, and he spoke to her these words: “do not mistake kindness for weakness. from dainty petals drip deadly poisons.”, and with that, misa understood her duty. she would protect the citizens of inazuma with her life, with her dainty umbrella and deadly blade at her side. she is seldom seen without either.

story 3

the kiyoharu clan were known best for the number of descendants who possess visions. thus, when the vision hunt decree was issued, the tenryou commission sought out every member of the household owning a vision. misa’s family would rather have died than hand over their precious visions. despite their unyielding fighting spirit, the kiyoharu household was overcome by the sheer numbers in the tenryo commission. there were supposedly no survivors, but it just so happened that the young kiyoharu misa was dispatched on a mission on behalf of the household the day it fell. the young swordsmaiden returned to her home in ruins, her whole life taken from her. she knew at that moment that as the sole descendant of the kiyoharu household, she would avenge her clan and return lost visions to those who suffer at the hands of the tenryo commission.

story 4

misa met all sorts of people on her journey through inazuma as a vision-bearing fighter, the most notable of all being the ronin kaedehara kazuha. she used to live a life of solitude in a small house near the edge of the islands of inazuma, but this life of solitude was changed upon seeing the rain-soaked samurai appear at her doorstep one evening. seeing each other’s visions, misa realised that kazuha was not a threat at all. the days they spent together inspired misa to venture out, to find the resistance in inazuma alongside the swordsman and reclaim justice for the fallen. and so, she left yet another life behind to travel with kazuha through inazuma in search of everything and nothing at all. nights of listening to the ronin’s musings and conversing under the moonlight unknowingly planted a blossom in misa’s heart, one which would remain there forever.

story 5

misa and kazuha’s travels took them all across inazuma. despite them both being wanted for their visions, the tenryo commission’s lackeys and treasure hoarders were no match for the pair’s skill in bladework. misa secretly yearned day after day for any sign of affection or mutuality from the young samurai, but as the princess of a famed clan she chose to remain composed and calm about the whole ordeal. however, when the ronin told the princess of his plan to leave inazuma with the crux fleet, he explained that he did not want to take this life from her. he confessed that his musings and haikus about the heart and its desires he so often shared with her were about her, and that his own heart would belong eternally to her. thus, he left her with a simple promise. “the wind will bring us together once again, misa. i will return home to you, and then will i forever devote myself to you. this i promise, my princess.”

the kiyoharu sword dance

those who have witnessed kiyoharu misa in battle often note how she appears more to be dancing than harshly fighting. the kiyoharu household drew its strength and style in battle from the moon and its light, and they channeled this into their blades during battle. misa’s god given agility combined with this graceful power leads ultimately to her captivating swordsmanship. with the electro imbued in her blade, misa is all too capable in taking down foes with ease. in the night hours, a stroll down to a clearing or open beach may lead you to find the princess honing her blade under the silver of the moon, with a sword that never sleeps. she is renowned throughout the resistance as one of the most talented swordswomen in inazuma.

the vision

misa was granted her vision during a particularly dangerous incident during her early training years. one fateful evening, she was out with other kiyoharu swordsmen, practicing her skills with her blade in the open country.

“lady misa, please remain here while we briefly survey the area. we have had reports of active treasure hoarders roaming this area, and we would hate for anything to happen to you at this time. we will be back shortly.”

and so, they left her on the path to scout the surrounding land. clutching the hilt of her sword, the very thought of being ambushed by grown men with malicious intentions worried misa, especially since she hadn’t obtained a vision yet. but alas, how wrong her fellow swordsmen were.

“well, what do we have here? the prestigious kiyoharu misa, is it? count ourselves lucky boys, it’s just the one we were after.”, drawled the advancing treasure hoarders.

her hands trembled on her sword. how could she possible deter these twenty, no, thirty treasure hoarders alone? glancing down at her sheathed blade, misa wondered if she’d see her family again.

no, why was she thinking like this?

steady yourself, misa. focus on your breathing. the dance will go on. your blade does not rest.

she draws her sword.

to the young swordsmaiden’s surprise, a new energy unlike anything she had witnessed before struck her senses. and so she danced, her blade piercing the air and with it bringing down the treasure hoarders in quick succession. but she could only go on for so long.

panting, misa retreated towards the edge of the river. the men relentlessly kept on coming, and she knew she was almost completely spent. her legs and hands quivered, and her mind raced with prayers to the goddess baal. with a small breath, she spoke these words:

“archons, guide me. i beg, lend me your strength.”

a faint crackling filled the air, before a tremendous burst of silver lightning struck the ground before her. the sword in her hands glowed a pale purple, and it was then that she realised the archons had answered her prayers. wielding this newfound power, she swung her blade with a new fervour.

twenty, no, thirty treasure hoarders lay at the princess of the kiyoharu household’s feet. the chime of a small ornament hitting the ground was the only sound after the crackling died down. at long last, kiyoharu misa’s vision had been granted to her by the gods. holding the electro vision in her hands, she whispered these words:

“the dance will go on.”

—

voice lines

—

hello

“i’m kiyoharu misa, nice to meet you! l-lady misa? oh no, please — there’s really no need for the formalities. i’m just as ordinary as you are. say, how about we travel together for a while? i’m sure your stories are bound to keep me entertained on our arduous journeys.”

chat: urgency

“a storm is brewing… let’s keep moving.”

chat: resting

“you’d like to rest? alright, want to share a quick meal?”

chat: sword

“i should really polish my sword soon…”

when it rains

“my my, it seems the heavens really have opened. let’s find shelter quickly, i’d hate to continue travelling in this weather.”

after the rain

“the lingering scent of the rain is one of my most favourite smells… for me, it heralds a fresh start. well, come on then! shall we head off?”

when it snows

“hmm… i really do enjoy the snow. especially when the moonlight casts a glimmering sheen over the world, enveloping inazuma in a soft silver. i hope we can witness it together sometime.”

when the wind is blowing

“i have a friend who adores the wind. he left some time ago, but i know he will return home to me one day. sometimes i wonder if i can hear his voice catching on the breeze, lines of poetry drifting along with it. hey, don’t give me that look! we’re just… uh… friends...”

good morning

“[sigh] i’m really not much of a morning person. i’m certainly not on my best form in the late morning hours… oh, you’re ready to leave already? r-right, i’ll be ready as soon as possible!”

good afternoon

“hmm, i’m feeling a little hungry… would you like to grab a bite to eat? no, it’s alright - there are inns up ahead that know the resistance. we’ll be just fine. and, if not, we have our blades. heh.”

good evening

“the setting sun is particularly pretty this evening. once the storm has fully settled, i hope to see the true beauty of the inazuman skies once again. i will see that vision to the end.”

good night

“you’re heading to sleep? alright, sleep well. me? well… the moon is my friend, i suppose. a little sword dance under its light helps me retain my focus. i won’t be too long, don’t worry.”

about kiyoharu misa

“my umbrella? oh, it was a gift from the leader of the kiyoharu household when i was born. i had it altered to accommodate the length and width of my sword - see? though it appears to be but a dainty paper umbrella, what lies within is a retribution sentence. it is my will given form.”

about us: kiyoharu origin

“my title as princess of the kiyoharu clan is something i will carry with me forever. despite the unjust fall of my household, i will bring back its honour. the raiden shogun’s vision hunt decree stripped my family of their lives, thus i swear i will reclaim justice. for them, and for the future.”

about us: kiyoharu motto

“the motto of the kiyoharu household is: “with grace and with fortitude.”, and i channel this saying into my sword whenever i draw it. it is the foundation for the kiyoharu way of life.”

about us: sword art

“ah, i see you have taken an interest in my fighting style. for me, fighting with a sword should not just be about the battle. it is an art, and i find myself overindulging in the grace and fluidity of swordsmanship all too often.”

about the vision

“my vision? i see it as a way of showing solidarity against the oppressive raiden shogun. i do not wish to hide that which is so dear to me, and that which forges my identity. this vision is my symbol of strength, and the tenryo commission who seeks it will be met with my unyielding blade.”

something to share

“i’m not sure how long you will be in inazuma for, but traveler - one day, i’d like to take you to a festival here. they are truly wonderful, and members of the resistance always find ourselves sneaking in to witness them as well. ever since i was young, i’ve loved them so much, and i’d love to share this memory with you as a reminder of your time in inazuma.”

interesting things

“traveler, is it true that in liyue there are gods that walk amongst the people? huh… adepti you say… so, they just co-exist with mortals peacefully? you’ve met them?! wow… it seems i underestimated your power! just what else have you witnessed since being in teyvat…”

about kazuha: relationships

“kaedehara kazuha? ahem… well… yes, i suppose you could say that we are… lovers, of sorts. on his final night here, he left me with a single promise. i often spend nights staring up at the moon with him in my mind. i will wait for him, for as long as it takes, i know that i will see him again one day. i know that he will return home soon.”

about kazuha: poetry

“kazuha would often recite haikus to me as we’d live together when he was here. i remember him arriving at my doorstep, drenched in rain from head to toe, and i hadn’t the heart to turn him away. he stayed for a while, and after a few days i decided to risk it all for him. the bond we share… is unbreakable. if you see him, let him know that i am waiting for him.”

about kamisato ayaka

“i have a lot of respect for the princess of the kamisato clan. she conducts herself in a light i admire greatly, and she and i are close friends. her swordsmanship is just as impressive, and i would love it if we could spar once more as we used to. perhaps i will visit her soon…”

about yoimiya

“yoimiya? oh, of course - festivals in inazuma aren’t complete without a firework show organised by her. i have also heard her skills with a bow are unique, to say the least. paired with her passion for fireworks, i assume the combination work… interestingly in battle.”

about sayu

“hm? sayu… you mean the ninja who resides in the forests? i can’t say i’ve seen much of her… which is odd, considering she wields that great claymore…”

about gorou

“oh, gorou! i know him very well, actually. he was one of the first people i befriended as part of the resistance. he is a sound fighter, and i believe he can achieve great things. perhaps i can see him again soon.”

about the raiden shogun

“the raiden shogun… her despicable vision hunt decree… the tenryo commission… i detest it all. to see so many people’s dreams stripped, to see the colour fade from so many precious hopes… i will see to it that this is all restored. i cannot sympathise with a god who robs her people of their dreams.”

more about kiyoharu misa i

“you’d like to know more about me? i’m flattered. i know that your journey through inazuma won’t be easy, so please don’t hesitate to drop by every once in a while. my blade never rests, after all.”

more about kiyoharu misa ii

“the carvings on my sword are most intricate. a swordsmaiden’s weapon is her will. i find myself staring at the moon night after night, and the patterns on my sword are a tribute to the power it lends me.”

more about kiyoharu misa iii

“you want to know about my title? well, moonlit swordsmaiden refers to the way i utilise my vision. the light of the moon reflects through the electro element, and i believe that through this combination i can convey the power of the resistance.”

more about kiyoharu misa iv

“i’m an only child, so the fate of the kiyoharu clan rests in my hands. traveler, i believe that through knowing you i have become a better person. i hope that you will visit inazuma once again.”

more about kiyoharu misa v

“here, this is for you. it’s a charm made from pure sea glass. the way the sun and moonlight reflects through its unique colours is a rare sight to behold. i suppose this is a thank you gift, for everything we’ve been through together.”

kiyoharu misa’s hobbies

“my hobbies? well, in the late night and early morning hours, i enjoy heading down to a secluded beach and basking in the moonlight. those hours are the perfect opportunity to practice swordsmanship, and the art of sword dancing too. besides that, i suppose i enjoy embroidery too, although i’m not particularly good at it…”

kiyoharu misa’s troubles

“i often worry about the other members of the resistance. i find myself questioning as to whether they still have their visions, or even their lives. on top of that, i hope that one day i will be reunited with my lover… i pray that he too made it out safely.”

favorite food

“my mother used to make the most takoyaki. my family weren’t so insistent on having maids running around when we could cook everything ourselves, so i would always snack on my mother’s dishes. even today, the taste of takoyaki brings back vivid memories of my mother.”

least favourite food

“honestly, i’m not much of a picky eater, but i’m not too fond of anything containing fish eggs…”

birthday

“happy birthday! it’s a special day for you today. is there anything in particular you’d like? no, don’t be silly, of course i’ll get it for you! seeing as you’ve helped me this far, it’s only right that i give something back to you! on top of that, if there’s anything you ever need at all, i’ll be sure to help you out, friend.”

feelings about ascension: intro

“my blade only grows stronger. let’s continue working hard.”

feelings about ascension: building up

“how to describe this feeling… lightweight, but more powerful. the dance will go on.”

feelings about ascension: climax

“with each passing day, my blade grows keener. the moon seems more radiant than ever before.”

feelings about ascension: conclusion

“i believe i owe you a great thanks. the moonlight that rains down on the world will forever be in your favour, traveler. both you and i will improve leaps and bounds from here on out.”

addition to party

“are we heading off?”

“alright, ready when you are.”

“it’s time, let’s go.”

elemental skill

“will of my sword!”

“shrouded in moonlight!”

(convergence) “cut them blind!”

(convergence) “beams, converge!”

elemental burst

“kiyoharu art: carver of radiance!”

“dance of death.”

“face my blade!”

fallen

“i thought… we’d meet… again…”

“friends… i’m sorry…”

“no… i wasn’t… done…”

—

talents

—

normal attack - kiyoharu sword art

perform up to 5 consecutive attacks with a sword.

charged attack: consume a set amount of stamina to unleash a more powerful attack, dealing physical dmg to enemies.

plunging attack: plunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents in an aoe upon impact.

elemental skill - remnants of moonlight

tap once: kiyoharu misa dashes quickly forwards, dealing electro dmg to enemies in her path. she leaves a thunderblade at her starting and end point of her dash.

tap again: the thunderblades converge with kiyoharu misa as the focal point, creating a triangular zone of convergence. enemies within the zone of convergence are dealt electro dmg and are knocked up. a mark of radiance is applied to enemies within the zone of convergence.

if the skill is not reactivated, the two thunderblades will converge in a line after 4s. marks of radiance last for 12s.

elemental burst - kiyoharu art: carver of radiance

kiyoharu misa leaps into the air, before plunging down and dealing a powerful slash to enemies, dealing massive electro dmg. for 3s after her slash, thunder strikes will crash down on enemies who are marked by mark of radiance, dealing extra electro dmg.

passive 1 - swordsmaiden’s revenge

enemies affected by a mark of radiance will take 15% more damage from kiyoharu misa’s normal and charged attacks.

passive 2 - thundering retribution

kiyoharu misa’s crit dmg is increased by 10% for 5s after a zone of convergence is activated.

natural passive - lightning clarity

all party members’ crit dmg is increased by 10% when kiyoharu misa is in the party.

—

constellations

—

constellation 1: tenacity of lightning

the duration of thunderblades on the field is increased to 6s, and the duration of marks of radiance on enemies is increased to 16s.

constellation 2: shredding thunder

enemies marked by marks of radiance have their elemental res decreased by 20%.

constellation 3: roots of kiyoharu

the level of kiyoharu art: carver of radiance is increased by 3.

constellation 4: fatal reunion

if there are more than 5 enemies within the zone of convergence cast by remnants of moonlight, the cooldown is decreased by 3s.

constellation 5: swordsmaiden’s unwavering will

the level of remnants of moonlight is increased by 3.

constellation 6:

kiyoharu art: carver of radiance deals 50% more dmg to enemies previously affected by electro.

—

appearance

—

kiyoharu misa is a young woman and is of average height, with light brown hair, tied half up in a braided bow and then tied at the very bottom. she has bangs which frame her face. her eyes are deep gray-purple, and she has a small scar across the bridge of her nose. her outfit is coordinated with white and lavender colours, and her paper umbrella is also patterned with lavender coloured lightning and flower patterns.

i’m horrible at art so here’s a fun picrew of misa …… this isn’t what she’d wear but it’s the closest thing to what i was imagining ig …… also the band aid is supposed to be her lil scar LOL

#finally dragged misa out of the drafts #zizi’s ocs

[itashiro-hitsuchiha]

Ship bias for Saber Artoria, Saber Mordred and Erza Scarlet

Send ‘Ship Bias’ and I will share up to 5 Ships I have a bias for for my muse!

@lemusegallery

Alright this may be a long post but I'll gladly do it. For you see simply listing the ships I have for them is too easy and boring. So instead I'll be giving reasons behind the ships and why I typically have a bias towards them. Also the ships I list may not all be romantic ships. I will list the type of ship I am referring to with each muse. Mostly because with these muses in particular I do not have that many romantic ships with them. Also putting a read more into this cuz of how long it may be and I don't want to clog up the whole dash.

Alright I'll just start with Mordred since she has the weirdest line up imo.

Mordred x Fran (BrOTP) - I just fucking love Mordred and Fran being in unison when it comes to kicking ass. That gif of them fist bumping just makes me excited every time. So naturally when writing Mordred if I can get my Fran up in the thread those two will act as pretty decent friends after awhile depending on the thread of course.

Mordred x Artoria (Notice me Senpai) - From all that I gather from playing FGO Mordred has a strange relationship with Artoria. Although if the two were in their normal minds and they are summoned together then things can get interesting as while Mordred may be somewhat hostile at first, they can actually talk and get some closure as after the events of Apocrypha Mordred has come to understand Artoria's position a little better so she won't be as bitter towards her. If anything it was fun in the first summer event to watch Mordred essentially try to get Artoria to notice her and get her praise only to get one-uped each time. They can have a nice wholesome, yet disfunctional dynamic at times and I'd like to see if I can explore that a bit more.

Mordred x Shirou Emiya (???)- I am not sure how to describe this ship. It wouldn't be romantic per say, but I do feel like these two could have an interesting relationship develop. Mordred can appreciate Shirou's determination and stubborness as it mirrors her own, but also with his relationship with Saber it could form a good bridge between them. Idk. I just like to see how this sort of ship could go.

I don't really have any more than that for Mordred as I don't see her as a romantic type. Being a homunculus she doesn't live a very long life regardless so her time is usually short unless summoned as a servant and then she could theoretically live as long as her master, like in Chaldea. Though some crossover potential does exist that I love, but I won't discuss that here. To add to that she has shown no real interest in romance that I can derive from what I've seen of her, so therefore my Mordred can be classified as mostly aromantic and possibly asexual. She knows of sex, but she doesn't have an interest in it as that sort of thing was not taken into account in her creation process and with how she was raised she REALLY had no room to consider it or even want it. It's not impossible to get her to do it, but it is very challenging and will require a LOT of effort.

Now for Artoria.

Artoria x Shirou (OTP)- needless to say I watched the first Stay Night as my introduction to the series. Even into UBW I thoroughly love this ship the most with her. The two just click on so many levels and their dynamic is amazing. Plus Shirou loves to cook and Saber loves to eat (as she kinda needs to eat a lot). Idk if there's anything else I can say about this ship that hasn't already been said, but yeah its my favorite one.

Artoria x Rin (BrOTP)- Seeing how Rin originally wanted a Saber class servant and how she was a friend of Shirou these two can be pretty fun together as well. Rin helps the two get out of their shells and explore the more fun side of life and what it has to offer. I think they're cute as a Bro sort of duo.

Artoria x Mordred- See ship above

Artoria x Lancelot (???)- I mostly like to see how things can go if they can have closure after the events of Zero and actually sit down and talk. (Saber needs to do that with a lot of people).

Much like Mordred Artoria never really had much time to consider romance, but interacting with Shirou definitely helps her grow out of her shell so she can at least consider it. When trying to ship romance with her, if you're not Shirou then you may have a tough time, but really you just need to earn her respect to spend more time with her and perhaps she'll grow on you and give you a chance. Much easier than how Mordred is.

Lastly Erza, Who is admittedly easier to ship with than the other two swordswomen.

Erza x Natsu (BrOTP, or possible OTP)- Erza and Natsu have this fun relationship dynamic. She almost acts like an older sister to him (as well as most of team Natsu) and she definitely has no problem telling him off when he really needs to get punched. Though I can also see them growing romantically (Fight me!) and I would like to see how that would actually go. (Plus the hentai of the two is top notch)

Erza x Jellal (Duh!)- I like the history that those two have together and seeing how they make each other flustered just by talking and feeling awkward its just great. While yes he has hurt her in the past (very badly I might add) Jellal doesn't try to pursue a romance with her because of that fact and he doesn't want to hurt her again, which I believe she is aware of it and fully understands and doesn't want to force him to try anyways. If he feels like he can safely pursue something with her she will be there waiting for him and happily accept him.

Erza x Mira (BrOTP)- Oh my god! these two are just great when they get the chance to sit and talk with each other. Their history allows Mira to talk to Erza about things that no one else could get out of the great Titania. Not to mention all the teasing Mira can do to her and get away with it unlike if Natsu or Gray tried it. Anytime these two get together for girl talk its just great.

Erza x Kaza (OTP)- I know its kind of cheating to list my muse with another of my muses, but hear me out. You see Kaza was someone I once had as a character several years ago, but then dropped for a long time and focused on Vorona for years of development that Kaza did not get. He was my first OC and I wanted to bring him back. Originally he was made for the Naruto universe, but when bringing him back I figured I'd change him up a bit. So I tinkered and decided to make him a Fairy Tail magic swordsman from Edolas who stayed in Earthland. So after making that I realized he may be best suited to be shipped with Erza or Kagura as they are the main swordswomen in the Fairy Tail universe. Her bluntness and occasional lewd minded thought process (really if you look at some of the things she says its pretty funny how thirsty this girl can be, also seduction armor....need I say more?) could pair well with Kaza's shyness towards the subject. I just think these two can be pretty funny and cute together as well.

While it may take me time to get used to it. Shipping with Erza can be pretty easy so long as you keep in mind that she does have a tendency to react violently if the wrong things are said. Easiest way to start shipping with her, be a member of Fairy Tail and/or be a swordsman of some sort. From there it's just a matter of how well the chemistry can be.

Alright. Hope this is sufficient with the meme and that you enjoyed reading this. :)

#long post

[aithne]

The list of books i read while the power was out:

WINGS OF FURY by Emily E. King: Greek god origin story. Fun but not shy about pointing out the intense misogyny of the ancient Greek world.

SCARLET ODYSSEY by C. T. Rwizi: Probably my favorite blackout read. Fantasy based on the culture and mythology of Swaziland with an excellent magic system. I think I got it as a Kindle First book, but well worth the $2 on Amazon.  Sequel is coming out soon.

NUCLEATION by Kimberly Langer. Woman who pilots faraway space robots encounters something that might be industrial espionage but also might be aliens. Fun characters, interesting tech concepts.

LIVING FOREVER AND OTHER TERRIBLE IDEAS by Emily Skaftun: Short stories! So many great gems in here. My favorites were "Oneirotoxicity" and "Apology for Fish-Dude".

THE ARDENT SWARM by Yamen Manai: Mainstream fiction about a beekeeper in a tiny North African village and what happens when his village basically gets taken over by fundamentalists. Lovely writing.

THE EMPRESS OF SALT AND FORTUNE by Nghi Vo: A scholar discovers the untold history of an empress by going through the things she left behind in the house of her closest companion. Totally wonderful novella.

DOWN AMONG THE STICKS AND BONES by Seanan McGuire: Twins Jacqueline and Jillian open a door to another world and discover both wonderful and devastating things there. Has the most perfect last line I've read in quite some time.

WINTER'S ORBIT by Everlina Maxwell: this one takes your favorite fanfic tropes (arranged treaty marriage! only one bed! lost on a frozen mountain! hurt/comfort! the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one!) and throws them into space. Absolutely delightful.

FIREHEART TIGER by Aliette de Bodard: What do you do when you're trying to negotiate with a hostile-ish nation, but the person you're negotiating with is your ex? Also, why is everything around you spontaneously setting itself on fire? Super enjoyed this one.

BLACK SUN by Rebecca Roanhoarse: Friends, do not sleep on this one.  It is as good as everyone says it is. 

SILK & STEEL, edited by Janine Southard: a WHOLE BOOK full of stories of swordswomen and princesses? Oh yes, oh, yes. Basically every story was written just for me and I love it.

[dolphin-enthusiast]

Headcannons of polnarneff s/o being a swords woman

- A match literally made in heaven. First time he saw her go about her training all by herself he was undoubtedly impressed and so he immediately tried to know her better. She was just too interesting and he couldn’t resist really.

- And surprise surprise, the 2 instantly clicked! Pol hasn’t really seen too many swordswomen in his life and this particular one just kept surprising him over and over again. Much to his bewilderment, she challenged him to a duel as a way of “celebrating their fresh relationship” and of course that the man couldn’t refuse her.

- Now just imagine the look of surprise that took over his features once the woman actually beat him. Instead of getting angry however, Pol fell for her even more in that second and raised his hands in defeat with an adoring smile on his face.

- Don’t even think that duels (as well as lots and lots of teasing both during the duel itself and in general) aren’t an ordinary part of their lives. These two would often just casually flirt as they savagely (yet elegantly) fight against eachother then praise and compliment one another after the duel is over, regardless of who won.

- And god forbid if anyone were to mess with his s/o (or vice versa) because if these 2 combine forces the end of the world is sure to come in due time. They are a literal power couple that aren’t afraid to stand up for eachother at all times and honestly Pol couldn’t have imagined ending up with someone more perfect than her.

#jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo no kimyou na bouken #jean pierre polnareff #jojo headcanons #headcanons #anon

[stupidstubbornbravebitchoftarth]

Sorry if this is a bit depressing but I just had the most horrible thought & need to vent. We know that GRRM told D&D about some characters’ endings - what if the ending he told them for Jaime was that he and Cersei die together??? And 8x05 was D&Ds Interpretation of that (it was shit and I hated it) but what if it was partly true?? I’m legit panicking rn, I cried for weeks after season 8 finished bc I couldn’t cope I have no idea what I’ll do if Jaime somehow dies with Cersei in the books too..

I know what you feel like and every once in awhile I get depressed about that too. But I am also pretty good at envisioning Brienne and Jaime on Tarth, teaching their little baby girl how to fight with a sword, while the sun sets over dark green meadows and the sapphire blue waters and they are at peace at last – it helps.

Disclaimer my knowledge about the whole GRRM vs. Dumb&Dumber debacle is very superficial – so what I am gonna tell you now is mostly what I can remember having read in other people’s posts lmao.

So for starters I believe having read somewhere that GRRM has been less and less involved in the actual writing process of the show BC he finally started working on the books. Praise God, She is too kind. He actually said he is kind of sorry for it but work e.g books caught up to him and it seemed like he didn’t even like the ending for the show (see the post where people compared his reaction to Marvel’s Endgame vs. The Reaction to his own show – it’s somewhere on my blog but I can’t Tag for shit so yeah just Google it it’s probably faster …. )

So for me that COULD mean that he was less and less contact with the writers and honestly maybe he actually wrote some of what he told D&D but then changed his mind and wrote other endings without telling D&D because a) he felt like it b) it’s his work c) probably thought D&D were fucking incompetent d) it was too late anyway

Also I just think that if he really kills Jaime off, which is always possible but I don’t think is going to happen,  it will be way more justified death, a just death not some fucking bricks. Like we know he is looking at Jaime and Brienne as a Beauty and the Beast retelling and Cersei is not of that much importance to him and he literally said that Jaime and Cersei’s relationship disgusts him or something along the lines of that. So I really cannot come up with a lot off GRRM worthy scenarios of Jaime dying with his sister other than maybe he will have to sacrifice his life to take her down or some shit but that is boring … in my opinion. Like I just don’t see a realistic ending that involves both of them dying at the same time for the simple reason that in the books Jaime is way more important than Cersei and I, personally wouldn’t sacrifice such a multifaced character like Jaime for a probably very funny to write but sometimes rather one dimensional alcoholic maniac, powerhungry villainess … like Jaime’s redemption arc is far from complete but Cersei’s plot? Idk I am not that far in the books yet but to me it seems like all signs are pointed towards her demise. Again it’s ASOIAF so GRRM could probably still find a way to redeem her or whatever but I don’t really see the point in it. I always felt like he is writing Jaime and Cersei in a way that, as the story goes on, reveals  that they in fact don’t mirror each other but are polar opposites actually pulling away from each other e.g the further Jaime heads towards redemption “the path of light” if you wanna say it like that, the further Cersei heads towards darkness and the only way they are equal can be found in the intensity their characters are involving, showing that House Lannister can be a force of evil and a force of good in equal measure or something going into that direction – it’s just a feeling though.

Also several prophecies and dreams are still unexplained and unresolved as far as I know like why is homeboy dreaming of naked Brienne with a sword in her hand – other than the fact that he is utterly and eternally in love with her

Why are literally all of their dreams revolving around each other

And, this is something I think about at least 435 times a day – D&D are fucking illiterate. While Gwendoline Christie does an amazing, incredible, showstopping, Oscar worty portrayal of everybody’s favorite highborn Ser fucking Brienne of Tarth – D&D’s interpretation of Brienne is …. well the thing you would excpect from two white dudes. They completly left out one part of Brienne which makes her so dear to many – the soft side, the femine side of her, the romantic side.  While she is the best fighter in Westeros, that’s not all she is and wants to be. Like tons of better analysts and writers pointed out – People tend to forget that she a) is a HIGHBORN LADY b) had to become a swordswomen to somehow make it in the Patriachy she is living in – which with her being deemed as ugly is even more of hellish nightmare. She didn’t really see another option other than becoming a Knight because everything else would have meant a lifelong endurance of humilation and submission. So at 16 she said, Fuck it, I will FIGHT any man who wants to oppress me for the rest of my life,  AND SO SHE DID. Her other option would have been eternal unhappiness and marriage to a man like four times her age. She became who she is because she had to. Unlike Arya who always hated being Lady however, Brienne is in someways way more similar to Sansa – both of them believe in tales of knights in shining amour that save maidens. Like as far as I can remember Brienne doesn’t hate being a Lady – she hates how she is being treated for it, THAT being said I think D&D failed to portray the overwhelming amount of that Brienne, so I am not very convinced that D&D truly interpreted and wrote things in the final episode the way GRRM would have – I mean look at the script lmao.

Also one way Jaime Lannister could potentially DIE is in a not literal way. Like the Death of Jaime Lannister could also be him becoming Jaime of Tarth? “Dying” in the arms of the woman he loves? – When he sleeps with Brienne for the first time on their wedding night or at least for the first time ( I mean having sex pretty much equals marriage in their world and they are both big softies so….) Or him “dying” by doing something extremly heroic therefore complety parting ways with the arrogant, the “evil” character parts of him (obessed with Cersei etc.) , signaling the completion of his redemption arc – like idk he slays a dragon for the lack of a better example so “Kingslayer” dies but “Dragonslayer” lives on. Like I am 90% sure the Kingslayer part of him is going to die and the Oathkeeper lives on. 

Also what happens in Beauty and the Beast? The beast dies – or so we think. What if Jaime pulls a Jon and gets murdered and then revived. Honestly we really don’t know how D&D interpreted what GRRM told them.

To sum up

Yeah, Cersei and Jaime could probably end up dying together again and I would probably never know happiness again.  Anything is still possible and everybody is entitled to their theories until the books come out and prove all of us wrong anyway. I personally don’t think it is going to happen I am just willing to believe that GRRM is a better writer than D&D and that is not very hard. For one, Cersei is not THAT important, Jaime’s redemption arc is unfinished and several prophecies unexplained. Jaime and Brienne’s arcs are connected and killing one or both of them of would be an extreme huge loss of unique and multifaceted characters as well as potential for the overall history, and also I think hard to pull of. I personally wouldn’t worry that much because yes Jaime could get killed off but if GRRM decided to do that it will make sense. The thing that made me so fucking depressed over Jaimes death is first and foremost the way he left Brienne which book!Jaime would  simply not do and even  for show Jaime it was soooo fucking out of character that I refuse to believe D&D even watched the other three episodes of Season 8. Like I just refuse to believe that GRRM would even write something like 8x4. Jaime’s death would make me sad because rarely I think you really need to kill a character to tell a good story but at least I know that book!Jaime is going out with a bang not a brick. Also there are not a lot of signs (if any ??) pointing toward Jaime’s death, most signs and prophecies can be interpreted in tons of different ways. Nothing is certain.

If it were upto me he would die in the Epilogue as an old man in the arms of Brienne surrouned by their kids and grandkids. In peace.

So if I were you I would stay out of the theory rabbithole as much as possible. I didn’t join the Jaime Lannister is Alive Clown Club for nothing. Just snuggle up with some snacks and the fluffiest and/or smuttiest Braime fic and have a good time.

Always remember Jaime and Brienne are chilling in the meadows of Tarth, having told the rest of the realm to kindly fuck off unless they are absolutely certain that it will be necessary to call Jaime “ Oathkeeper” of Tarth and a very pregnant Ser Brienne of Tarth to fight whatever creature from the Seven Hells was unleashed onto Westeros now. The only visitors allowed are the Stark Kids. Somewhere in the background Pod is somehow getting chased by a giant dog that stole his sword. The End.

#anon #Braime #that is all i can offer #brienne x jaime #game of thrones

[askweisswolf]

AO3 link FF.net link

@glimadora-week for day 4, pet names. Because I will finish this story, I swear to God. That said, a bit of a note...

Yeah, I know. I said I'd have this story done by season 2, and I swear I did mean it, but real life gets funny like that. To make a really long, personal story short my cousin died suddenly while I was working on this chapter, and it threw a lot of things off for me and my whole family. A part of me is still worried this might be all over the place because I came back to it after so long away, but... honestly I'm sick of looking at it, and I want to put it up for his sake and move on to finish this story.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy.

They couldn’t put it off forever, of course.

They’d both known that from the start, and Glimmer wanted to be completely fair to the both of them on this subject: they’d planned to talk about it! They’d planned to talk about it soon, even! It wasn’t something they had been purposely trying to ignore or avoid. Whatever was happening between them, whatever they were becoming together, they knew it couldn’t continue until they talked. That they were both still so eager to talk about it, well—the princess took that as a good sign, especially considering she’d never actually thought at any point Adora would return her feelings.

(Had she actually talked to Bow about any of this instead of simply venting about him to a situation that she was certain was doomed, he could have told her beforehand that Adora had shown several signs of returning her interest and mostly just didn’t seem to realize it. But all of her talks with Bow on the subject had been purely vent sessions, and so he’d never had the chance to tell her this.)

But life had continued on without caring about what either of them had wanted, and there had been strategies to discuss and rebuilding to do, and so they had both been busy for days as everyone tried to make the most of this tentative, uncertain quiet from the Horde. Another attack would come soon, they all knew that, but there was no shame in recovering while they had the time.

The thing was now, that had stopped for the time being. The planning had died down for the most part—or at least they had agreed to take a break from the sessions so that everyone could keep their sanity—and the majority of the rebuilding that required time and physical effort had been finished. There was a strange sort of quiet, as everyone began to realize that they had a moment to slow down and relax. Most people admittedly didn’t know what to do with that time.

Glimmer knew what she wanted to do with it. And of course, because she knew what she wanted to do with it, she couldn’t find Adora anywhere. How she managed to completely disappear was still a mystery to the princess; she was tall! And loud! Tall, loud people didn’t usually vanish so easily! And Glimmer would know personally on the loud part: she’d tried for years to disappear whenever she and her mother had gotten into one of their arguments, and it had never worked. Inevitably, Angella had always used the noise to find her.

So how Adora managed to disappear constantly when she was both loud and tall wasn’t fair. Clearly she was somehow cheating. Glimmer would have to ask her about it when she managed to find her.

She’d already checked Adora’s room, the dining hall, the main meeting room, her own room just to be on the safe side, and the stable on the off chance that maybe they were supposed to repeat their earlier talk in the rain. All of those places had turned up empty, and she was starting to become a little stumped. She’d even checked the training area on the off chance that Adora was there working on her swordplay—maybe secretly hoping that she’d be dressed down in the process, they’d already kissed twice and they’d said they liked each other SHE WAS ALLOWED TO HOPE FOR THIS—but that place had also been lacking in tall, loud, blonde swordswomen named Adora.

(There had been people dressed down during their training, but Glimmer hadn’t noticed them. They weren’t Adora, and therefore she wasn’t interested in lingering to check them out.)

So now it was a little into noon, and they had the time to talk, but there was no Adora for Glimmer to talk to about it.

Well. That all just confirmed it, then. The world had it out for Glimmer.

Glimmer, specifically.

It was the only logical conclusion.

Had she had the moment to follow this particular train of thought to the end of its tracks, she would have eventually let out a scream of frustration at the general situation until teleporting all over the castle to find Bow so that she could vent at him about everything. But apparently before she got to that point, her train of thought was derailed off its tracks by fate’s decision to give her a rare break for once. She heard a whinny overhead and the flare of wings, and she looked up.

Then blinked, and stared a little dumbly, as Swift Wind landed a few feet away from her and Adora slid easily off his back. Or maybe, at least, she thought it was easily, but—mostly she stumbled a few steps and clung to him a little bit to steady herself as she adjusted to being back on the ground again.

“No,” she rasped. “Never again.”

Swift Wind rolled his eyes. “How was this different from when I flew you back to Bright Moon?”

“That was in a straight line! And—and I don’t know, not as fast!”

“Hey, you were the one who came to me this morning and asked that we start practicing for a battle scenario. What I did up there is totally valid in a fight.”

“Yeah, sure, totally valid and terrifying. We are never doing that again.”

“Okay, first of all, that isn’t really our choice. Second of all,” he nudged her shoulder gently with his wing. “Are you afraid of heights? Because this is like, way beyond the average fear I’ve seen most humans express.”

“I don’t know! Maybe! I’ve never been that high up before!” Adora said. Or shrieked. It was probably shrieked, considering her voice had gone up a few octaves during this exchange. “And I’ve definitely never been up that high before while going that fast, a-and—and moving like that!”

Swift Wind gave her a long, slow look. Glimmer was tempted to speak, but something told her to keep her mouth shut, and instead she watched as he brushed a wing along the blonde’s back.

“You’re going to need to take a deep breath,” he said. “Because we are absolutely doing that again at some point in the future. We both know it.” He peered over her head, and smirked. Glimmer immediately didn’t like that smirk. “And look, your princess is here waiting for you.”

“My what--” Adora whirled around and froze, as she realized the other girl was standing there. For a few seconds they just stared at each other as Swift Wind snorted in some mixture of amusement and annoyance. “Oh. Um. H-Hey, Glimmer.”

Glimmer felt like she wasn’t supposed to be smiling, but her lips were curving upwards anyway. “Hi, Adora.”

“You, uh. You heard all of that, huh.”

She briefly considered lying for the sake of her friend’s dignity, and figured that there was no point in trying to do so. “Heard all of it and saw all of it.”

“Good. Great. Just what I wanted to hear.” The taller girl finally sighed, shoulders slumping a little, before she turned to face Swift Wind. “You’re right. We need to do this again. Sooner than I thought, considering my reaction.”

“Yeah, sure, no problem. Not a big deal, no rush.” He shoved his wing into Adora, pushing her away from him and closer to Glimmer. “Now go. She was clearly looking for you.”

He didn’t give the blonde a moment to even think of a reply; the moment there was enough distance between them he flared his wings and flew away. Quite suddenly, Adora and Glimmer were left alone in the small clearing.

“Swift Wind’s kind of a jerk, huh,” Glimmer said.

“Yeah,” Adora sighed. “That’s something I’ve realized recently, too.” She coughed into her hand, smiling sheepishly. “Were you really looking for me, or was that just more of him being kind of a jerk? At this point I honestly can’t tell with him anymore.”

“I was really looking for you. We finally have some time to ourselves, and I’m pretty sure we don’t have any new disaster brewing in the next few minutes and, um.” Glimmer played with her hands, trying her best to ignore her nerves. There was nothing to be nervous about! They had to talk about this! They both knew that!

And yet, she was still nervous. Of course.

“And well, you know, we still need to—talk,” she plunged on, deciding the best way to handle her nervousness was to talk until it went away, “about… you know, everything.”

“… Yeah. I-I meant to find you about that since today’s going to be pretty quiet for me, but I found Swift Wind first and started thinking about preparing for when I had to fly him into battle and… well. Here we are now. And here I am now.”

“So...” Nope, not going to give herself time to think about it. She wasn’t going to give either of them time to think about this, because that path only led to ruin. “Do you want to talk about it now? Or we could wait, it—it sounded like that bit of flying with Swift Wind really got to you.”

Hadn’t she just decided she wasn’t going to give either of them time to think about it?! This was Adora’s fault, clearly. She was just so pretty and nice and perfect in every way possible that she ruined Glimmer’s thought processes.

Then Adora smiled shyly, and suddenly Glimmer believed that nothing had ever been her fault ever, at any point in time.

“No,” she said, and she was still smiling shyly and that wasn’t fair, but the princess couldn’t even be upset about it. “No, I’m okay with talking about it now. It’s something we need to talk about, especially if we want to keep this thing going.”

Glimmer snorted. “Our thing, huh?”

“I don’t know what else to call it! It’s a thing that we have, I thought it was pretty fitting until we decided to call it something else.”

“Well, hopefully this talk will help us figure that part out too.” Glimmer put her hands back behind her back, to try her best to keep them still. “Do you want to talk about it right now here, or...”

Adora rubbed the back of her neck, tilting her head back to look up at the sky as she thought about it for a moment before she shook her head. “Here is fine,” she said, plopping down into the grass and looking up at her smaller friend. “Unless you want to go somewhere else?”

“No! No, here is totally fine.” It was private at least, and the weather was clear and warm. There were certainly worse ways to have this talk.

“Great! That’s great, really. So, um… where do you want to start?”

It really should have been easy, Glimmer mused as she sat down next to the blonde. She was a princess and Adora was a former Horde soldier, just to start with. Even compared to that, Glimmer was a normal person—relatively speaking, in Etheria terms, her immortal queen mother aside—and Adora was the newest host for an immortal spirit that legends said was dedicated to protecting the land. They had no shortage of things to talk about, and all of them were surprisingly simple topics, really; most of it was simply just navigating how this fledgling relationship would grow with those particular truths.

There was one topic that they needed to talk about along with all of that, though. It was by far the most complicated topic of them all (ironically), and that simply had to do with the impact it had on Adora’s emotions leading up to this point. Logic would dictate that they should leave this topic for last, and tackle all of the other ones first. A way to sort of ease into it.

Glimmer cheerfully admitted, usually at the top of her lungs, that she wasn’t the most logical person even under the best circumstances. And she certainly didn’t believe in easing into anything. For her, it was all or nothing.

“So,” she said quietly, glancing at Adora. “Do you want to talk about Catra?”

It was almost interesting to watch the taller girl’s reaction, honestly. The princess had never associated her with ‘subtle’, exactly; it wasn’t an insult, Adora just wasn’t a particularly subtle person even at the best of times. It became even more obvious the more she tried to be subtle about something, to the point that for the most part she didn’t even bother with it anymore.

But her reaction when Glimmer said Catra’s name—that was surprisingly subtle. A bit of tension easing into her shoulders, a slight stiffening of her spine and the smallest grinding of teeth. There was a lot of emotion there, and almost immediately the pink-haired girl regretted that she’d decided to not be logical about this. She knew something had happened between them to cause the venom she’d briefly glimpsed during the Battle of Bright Moon, but Adora had been rather quiet about it.

“Or,” she said hesitantly, “we can talk about something else instead. I mean, you’re a former Horde soldier and I’m a princess, and a lot of people still really hate the Horde. We’ll have to figure out how to handle that. And then there’s the whole She-ra thing, that’s a pretty big deal.”

“… No,” Adora sighed, and just like that it all drained out of her. Her shoulders relaxed and her spine slumped, and suddenly she looked small and tired. “No, we should—we need to talk about Catra. I—I need to talk about Catra. I haven’t talked about her to you or to Bow, and I… I really probably should, at this point.”

Glimmer hesitated again for another moment, then quietly inched closer and rested her hand on the blonde’s back. When Adora didn’t pull away from the touch, she began to rub it in what she hoped was a comforting manner. Her mother had done it for her sometimes, when she’d been upset or sad, and it had usually worked for her. “Okay,” she murmured. “Let’s talk about Catra. Take your time, yeah? There’s no rush. We have all day.”

Adora peeked at her and smiled weakly. “Do I look that bad?”

“… Do you want me to be honest, or do you want me to be nice?”

“You can be honest. I like that about you.”

“Then, reminding you that you gave me permission to say this—you look bad, yeah.”

That made Adora snort and chuckle, something shaky and watery as she looked away from Glimmer’s gaze. “I did give you permission. And I know it’s true. I feel pretty bad.” She sighed, looking down at her hands. “I’m trying to think of where to start.”

“The beginning is usually a good place for that.”

“I mean—I don’t remember much of the beginning, is the problem. I don’t even know where I came from. I used to ask Shadow Weaver to tell me, and she always refused. I’m pretty sure it only bothered me. Catra never seemed to care about it the way I did.”

“So you met her young?” It was an obvious thread, and the princess grabbed onto it tightly with both hands. If Adora needed a little help to keep her going on this subject, Glimmer would happily give it to her.

“Pretty young, yeah. I don’t remember a time she wasn’t around. I don’t know where we came from or how we got into the Horde, but we always had each other. I’m not even sure how we ended up together. I don’t think it was Shadow Weaver’s idea, she… she never really liked Catra.”

Glimmer swallowed, keeping her hand on the blonde’s back; something steady and stable to brace her. “Shadow Weaver raised you both, right?” Adora didn’t talk about her either, but there didn’t seem to be a point in bringing it up now when the discussion was leaning that way.

Adora chuckled again, but now it was tired and bitter. “She did. I have no idea how she got us or why she was raising us, maybe we were orders from Hordak. Looking back on it now, comparing it all to what I’ve seen in the Rebellion, I don’t even think I’d say that she raised us, really. We were just tools she was given, and she used us the way that she saw fit.”

“It sounds like she used you both differently,” the shorter girl said, a little cautiously.

“She did. Like I said, she never liked Catra, and she really liked me. I don’t know why. I just remember...” Adora trailed off for a moment, exhaled shakily. “I just remember when we were little, she was awful to Catra, and she told me---s-she told me it was my responsibility to look after her, or something really bad would happen to her.”

It was as if a hand had reached up from the ground through Glimmer’s body and clutched at her heart, crushing it painfully in her chest. It took everything in her to not see red, and even then there was flashes of it along the edges of her vision. Suddenly, the fact that she had managed to punch Shadow Weaver once in the face hard enough to knock her over didn’t seem like enough punishment. “How old were you?” she asked, shocked by how even her voice was.

Adora rubbed at her eyes. “I-I don’t remember, gods. My memory gets really foggy when I start thinking back that far. I just know we were both young, and really small. She liked to tower over both of us when she was upset or disappointed.”

“But you do remember her saying that to you.”

“She said it to both of us, Catra—Catra was right there. I think maybe she was trapped? Somehow? She looked really scared and kind of like she was in pain. But we were both there when she said that. We both knew it.”

“And you listened to her.”

“Well, I mean—yeah, of course I did. She was threatening my friend.”

It was easy for Glimmer to remember what things had been like when she was little. Her friendship with Bow wasn’t exactly like the relationship between Adora and Catra, from what she had glimpsed of the two of them interacting in battle, but she could still imagine what it was like to be that small and have one person that you liked and trusted above everyone else. She couldn’t even imagine what she would have done if Angella had ever made a threat like that, but knowing Adora the way she did and knowing how much she had cared about Catra, she could imagine the end result.

“Not that it mattered in the end,” the blonde muttered, and the darkness in her voice jolted the princess out of her thoughts. “Because even after listening to Shadow Weaver for years, I didn’t protect Catra from anything. She still got hurt, still got punished. It just happened when I wasn’t around to see any of it, so I wouldn’t be able to—to do anything.”She exhaled, something shaky, and before Glimmer could think to say anything she was speaking again, an emotional rush of words that she’d clearly been holding in for some time. “And even if I’d known, even if I’d done something about it, Catra—Catra just thought I was doing it to be a hero, to show much I owned her, because that was the seed Shadow Weaver put in us both. She… she thought in the end I only did those things to look good, to prove that I could handle her.”

“… But you didn’t,” Glimmer murmured, after a few minutes had passed from that outburst and Adora still hadn’t spoken.

Adora laughed, and the sound of it nearly collapsed into a sob. “I didn’t think I did, but you know what? I’m not, I’m not even sure anymore, because she wasn’t wrong. I was on her all the time, because Shadow Weaver put it in my head that I had to be. I just—I-I thought she didn’t understand, didn’t realize what was at stake. And all this time she did, probably even better than I did in some respects, and there I was acting like an idiot.”

She’d meant to just listen as the taller girl vented, she really had. A former Horde soldier, the host of She-ra, Shadow Weaver’s chosen heir apparent, the young woman that had gone out and won battles and rallied the princesses and the Rebellion in a way neither of them had ever been rallied before. In so many ways Adora was strong, had been stronger than any of them had expected her to be, and a part of Glimmer had figured—hoped, maybe, optimistically, idealistically—that this discussion would be much the same way. But all of that was striped away now, and all she saw was an exhausted girl with shoulders slumped under the weight of it all on her, and staying silent was becoming almost impossible to consider.

And truth be told, Glimmer had never really been a quiet kind of girl anyway even ah the best of times.

“Hey. Adora, look at me.” When that didn’t happen, she gently urged her friend to face her and took both her hands, squeezing gently. “Adora? Sweetie? Please look at me.”

Adora didn’t look at her right away, and for a moment Glimmer felt her heart plummet into her stomach. She wasn’t intending to force her friend to look at her, despite her request—hence why it had been a request and not an order, though the princess had the awful suspicion that if it had been an order the taller girl would have immediately obeyed it regardless of how she felt—but she didn’t know how else to proceed if Adora didn’t look at her.

She only had a moment of concern about it, though, because after the moment ended those blue-gray eyes she liked so much met hers. The grip on her hands tightened at the same time, almost to the point of pain, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care because Adora was looking at her like she had asked, and she hadn’t let go of her hands the whole time, hadn’t pulled away from her, and there were actual tears in her eyes.

Gods, if she started crying now, Glimmer knew her heart would break. It was already starting to crack.

“Thank you,” she said, and could have kicked herself immediately for saying it, but her mouth had apparently decided to keep moving without any input from her brain. “For looking at me, I mean.”

Adora laughed, startled and a little thick. “You’re, uh, you’re welcome, I guess.”

The grip on her hands had slowly relaxed into something less painful, and Glimmer leaned forward to gently brush away the tears that were still in the other girl’s eyes. She took it as a good sign when she didn’t pull away from her touch. When she eased back, she managed a weak smile of her own. She still didn’t know what to say, but she knew how she felt, and, well….

Glimmer had always prided herself on her ability to improvise.

“You weren’t acting like an idiot,” she said, and took it as a good sign when she didn’t want to immediately kick herself again.

Adora frowned. “But I--”

“Ah ah ah!” Glimmer rested her finger on Adora’s lips to quiet her, doing her absolute best to ignore the small shiver that ran down her spine as her eyes immediately sharpened and focused on her finger. She pulled away to take her hands again. “I’m arguing a point here, sweetie. You can talk to me about it once I’ve finished my point, okay? Because you aren’t an idiot. You’ve never been an idiot. You aren’t an idiot now, and you weren’t an idiot when you were a child.”

The taller girl’s lips twitched. “So you think I’m smart, then?”

“You are smart. You’ve always been smart. And you—gods, Adora, you were a child. You were child who was raised a certain way because your...” What should she even call Shadow Weaver? She had clearly been the only parental figure Adora and Catra had known their whole lives, but it felt like an insult to call her their mother with what she knew about her, with what her friend had just told her. When Glimmer imagined a mother, she thought of Angella; she thought of someone who loved her and looked after her and wanted her to succeed in life, even if they didn’t always agree on how to succeed.

She swallowed, and made up her mind.

“… Shadow Weaver raised you, but she—she did a bad job of it, okay? She was a bad mom. Moms aren’t supposed to be like that. They aren’t supposed to take your best friends and hurt them and use that against you to make you do what they want. They’re supposed to love you, and protect you, and support you, and she… she didn’t do any of that, and that isn’t your fault, okay?”

Adora was still looking at her. Glimmer took that as a good sign, because now that she was talking she didn’t think she could stop. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to stop, either. Maybe this was something she needed to say, because it was something that the other girl needed to hear. Maybe it would help.

She hoped it would help.

“You were a child,” she said at last. “It shouldn’t have been your job to look after yourself or Catra the way you had to. What happened in the Horde, your relationship with Catra, it… it’s not your fault, do you understand? The base of it all, it’s not your fault. If you want to try and fix things with her, that’s your call and Bow and I will totally support you. But don’t blame yourself when all of this started because Shadow Weaver failed.”

Adora was still looking at her, but Glimmer couldn’t read her eyes, couldn’t take anything from the expression on her face. A moment of silence passed between them, and then another, and that was the moment when the princess began to worry and wonder if maybe she’d messed up and said the wrong thing. Maybe in trying to help, she had gone and made things worse.

Okay Glimmer. Okay, you got this. It’s just damage control. Stay calm, you know how to handle this! Mom talked about it all the time! Sure, you didn’t listen, but that never stopped you before!

Glimmer clamped down hard on her worry—or she tried, at least, it felt like she wasn’t succeeding at it as much as she would have liked—and took a deep breath as she opened her mouth. She could do this. She could stay calm. She could…

She couldn’t do anything, because before she said anything or even thought of anything to say—one of the flaws of improvising—she found that she lost all of the air that she had drawn in to try and speak, because she was suddenly being crushed as Adora lunged forward and hugged her, something tight and desperate and just a little painful. Glimmer hissed out a breath and wrapped an arm around the blonde’s back, and felt the way she was shaking. She could have tried to say something, or patted her to get her attention, but she kept still. She slowly relaxed, and nuzzled her face into the blonde’s shoulder as she shuddered.

She didn’t know how long they stayed like that, Adora holding her and Glimmer letting her hold her. Eventually the former Horde soldier’s grip on her relaxed, and the shaking gradually faded back into stillness. The princess felt dampness along her shoulder, but she didn’t say anything about it and simply waited.

It was Adora who spoke first, in the end. “Thank you,” she whispered, the two words shaking and thick with tears, and she finally pulled back a little bit so that their eyes met again. “I—I don’t know why that got to me the way it did, but… thank you, Glimmer, for saying it.”

“Hey, of course.” She reached out carefully, wiping at the tears that still fell. “I admit I kinda winged it, but… I’m glad that it helped, at least a little bit. Do you feel better?”

“A little bit, yeah.” Adora sniffled and Glimmer pulled her hand away so that she could wipe at her eyes herself. “Thank you again, I guess… I don’t know, no one’s ever said that to me before. I guess I needed to hear it.”

The princess personally thought she needed to hear way more than that, but that wasn’t a discussion she wanted to have so soon after her friend seemed to have had a breakthrough. She leaned back and let Adora compose herself, and this time when things were quiet between them, it was a comfortable sort of silence.

“You gave me a lot to think about,” the blonde said at last. “I know we… you know, need to keep talking, we have more to talk about, but… can we stop here for today and pick it up later? I-I mean, you know me and my thoughts.”

Glimmer smiled, struck suddenly and deeply with affection for the other girl. “Of course. There’s no rush on this, okay? We can do it at your pace. I’m a very patient person.”

There was a pause as Adora looked at her, lifting a brow.

“… I’m a mostly patient person,” Glimmer amended.

Adora’s brow only climbed higher, practically becoming one with her hairline.

“… Okay fine, I’m not a patient person at all,” she finally admitted. “But I can try to be, for you. Since that’s what you need.”

That got a soft laugh from her friend, and this time when Adora leaned in for another hug, it was gentler, with a squeeze that Glimmer liked way more than she would ever admit to anyone who wasn’t Bow. And if it lingered a little longer than a normal friendly hug, well, she wasn’t going to say anything about it.

When they pulled apart, Adora smiled sheepishly. “Um, before we go back to Bright Moon, I do have one more question.”

“Yeah?”

“We don’t have to talk about this now, I know we kind of dove right into this and did a lot, but, um...” She swallowed now. “When you were talking, you… called me something. I don’t know what it means.”

Glimmer blinked, thinking over all of what she had said to Adora in the last few minutes. She blinked again, processing all of those words and turning them over in her head, then blinked a third and final time when nothing clicked into place. “… I did?” she asked.

“Um, yeah. You did. It must be pretty normal for you, if you don’t even remember it, but...” Adora rubbed the back of her neck, eyes flicking about nervously before she met Glimmer’s gaze. “That word you used, sweetie. You said it to me a few times. What does it mean?”

She blinked a fourth time, as the clicking happened. “Oh! Oh, that, um… yeah, I did call you that a time or two, didn’t I? I… huh, I wasn’t really thinking about it.”

“Yeah, you did. So… what does it mean, exactly? I’m just wondering, you don’t—you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to right now. I know we already talked about a lot of things.”

“Oh! No, no, it’s okay, we can talk about it if you want. It’s not, like… a super heavy thing. I mean, I guess it is for some people? But it’s not for me, so...”

“I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you use that word, actually, so… it’s at least kind of important, I assume.”

Darn, Adora had caught that. Glimmer had really been hoping she wouldn’t, because she hadn’t even realized she’d let the pet name slip out until the other girl brought it up. And once she’d been reminded of that fact, she’d really really hoped that she wouldn’t have to try and explain it. Curse the Horde and their general lack of basic affection!

But it was fine. This was fine. They were already so open to start with about being interested in each other, and using a pet name for someone wasn’t an inherently romantic thing. She could totally explain this and she wouldn’t be nervous at all while she was doing. It was going to be fine. She was only a little nervous anyway!

“Right, so, um, what I called you? It’s a pet name, basically. It’s something you can call another person when you’re, you know, really attached to them instead of their name. It’s a way of showing that you care about them.”

Adora tilted her head to the side as she thought about that. “We didn’t have that kind of thing in the Horde,” she said.

Glimmer swallowed. “You uh, you didn’t like it then?”

“No! No, I did like it—I mean, I do like it, a lot, actually, now that I know what it means.” Adora looked at her now, and when she smiled it was small and shy as her cheeks went a little pink. “And I liked hearing you say it.”

Well. Now Glimmer was a lot nervous, and she was definitely blushing way deeper than Adora’s cute pink. She was pretty sure all of the blood in her body had managed to flood into her face, from how warm it felt. She wasn’t sure how the other girl was still able to have this effect on her when they had talked and kissed—more than once, even!--but apparently that was something that wasn’t going to stop any time soon, even at this stage.

She wondered, vaguely, if it had been like this for her parents. She’d have to ask Angella about it sometime, preferably without letting slip who she was talking about.

“Good!” she said. She most definitely did not shriek it a little, and it definitely wasn’t something that made Adora muffle a giggle behind her hand. “I mean, you know, good. Because I liked saying it. I liked calling you that, because I like you a lot.”

“I like you a lot too,” Adora said, and now she wasn’t trying to hide her giggles anymore.

“And I’m glad you’re feeling better, and I’m glad we talked about this at least a little, and we can totally keep talking about this whenever you want! Because I like you a lot and I want you to feel better. It’s also why I called you sweetie. Because I like you a lot, and you’re really sweet. Like, so sweet. It’s almost unfair how sweet you are, except it’s part of what I like so much about you.”

“Uh, Glimmer?”

“What?!” she definitely shrieked, and it was enough to push the blonde over the edge into outright laughing. Maybe it was just the build up from her emotions thus far, maybe it was something like a release after getting too deep into her own head about her time in the Horde, but once she started laughing she couldn’t stop. So she didn’t. She just leaned into Glimmer, and she laughed until her stomach hurt and she finally managed to stop and calm herself down, wiping at her eyes as she caught her breath.

Glimmer had the feeling that she should have been annoyed, but she couldn’t work it up when Adora’s laugh was so pretty and she was leaning on her like this, totally relaxed. And as her laughter died down, it seemed like she had really needed to laugh. So the princess sighed, recognizing that she had done this to herself, and said again, “What?”

“I was just going to say,” Adora managed, “that if you wanted to call me that again you can.”

“… Oh. Um. I can?”

“Yeah, you can. I was going to try and say it earlier, but you kept talking and, you know… you listen to me all the time when I ramble, and you really listen to me this time, so I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

“You know you could have and I wouldn’t have minded.”

“Well, yeah, but...” Adora shrugged, and she didn’t pull away from Glimmer as she glanced at her. “I also like it when you ramble.”

“Okay, see, this is why I called you that in the first place,” the princess sighed, absently lifting a hand to gently play with Adora’s ponytail. “But I’m glad you like it when I ramble, sweetie.”

Adora grinned. “Like that, yes.”

It wasn’t perfect, Glimmer mused to herself as they fell into comfortable silence. This—discussion, if it could even be called that much, was only scratching the surface. But they had at least started it, and it seemed to have helped her friend start to come to terms with some things she had been raised with in the Horde. That was better than nothing, by far.

“Hey, Glimmer?” Adora’s voice was soft.

“Yeah?”

“Are you in any rush to get back to Bright Moon?”

“… Nah. I like being like this.”

“Yeah, me too.”

So they stayed like that for awhile, together. And if it was something like a start, well, that suited them both just fine.

#glimadora week #Glimmer #Adora #glimadora #my writing

[beneaththetangles]

Love Versus Materialism in Sword Art Online Alicization

*Warning: presumptive spoilers for a future season of Sword Art Online Alicization*

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Lingering the background of Sword Art Online Alicization has been the question of the nature of the soul. Early in the anime, the story established that scientists had narrowed down the soul’s nature to a light-based phenomenon they call a fluctlight. These fluctlights can be produced artificially and contained within computers. Leaving out the sci-fi embellishments, plenty of people today hold views of the human self similar to the one SAO Alicization sets up.  There are a variety of theories, but one way or another these views all claim that our minds (or our perception of having minds), our sense of self, is ultimately a physical phenomenon. We are nothing but our bodies — there is no metaphysical or supernatural soul that transcends our bodies. But several aspects of the story contradict the narrative’s initially materialist stance on the soul and suggest it is incorrect to understand the soul in purely physical terms. Volumes 15 and 16 of the Sword Art Online light novels, Alicization Invading and Alicization Exploding, pick up where the anime left off. They effectively continue the discussion about love that began with Eugeo and Quinella, and through that discussion, the narrative pushes back against a materialist perspective on the soul.

The first development of note comes when computer expert Higa explains what happened to Kirito in the Underworld: Kirito had friends who died in the battle with Administrator, and at the time that he finally contacted the outside world, he was beating himself up over those deaths. “In other words, he was attacking his own fluctlight.” Just at that point, a power surge caused the system to act upon Kirito’s self-loathing, which rendered him catatonic within the Underworld (remember, he’s already in a coma in the real world). According to a computer scan, the part of Kirito’s fluctlight that normally contains the sense of self was just a big black hole. As a result, even though the rest of his soul is intact, Kirito was left a prisoner within himself. He’s suffering from something akin to depression, we might say, though taken to a sci-fi extreme: “He cannot process exterior input, and he cannot output his own actions… He might not be aware of who he is…unable to say or do anything…”

Higa then theorizes on how to help Kirito. “He damaged his own soul by excessive self-flagellation. So if someone else provides him with forgiveness…then maybe…” The narrator acknowledges that Higa’s idea is “vague, unscientific.” Higa admits to himself that what he doesn’t know about the soul far outweighs what he does know:

“Was the fluctlight a physical construct? Or was it some kind of conceptual phenomenon that couldn’t be explained with modern science? If the latter, perhaps Kazuto Kirigaya’s wounded and exhausted soul could be healed by some other power that surpassed science. Such as, for example, love.”

While Sword Art Online Alicization previously set us up to believe the fluctlight is a “physical construct,” the anime, at least, hasn’t directly weighed in on the question much. With Higa’s musing, the narrative explicitly raises the question it’s long been asking implicitly. Do humans have an immaterial spirit, or is our sense of self a purely physical phenomenon, something that can explained, quantified, and manipulated by science? The story offers a number of hints that the human mind is something more than science can explain, and that love, in particular, is a science-defying, reality-shaping force.

n response to Higa’s suggestion that Kirito needs love and forgiveness, Asuna volunteers: “I want to go in there and tell Kirito that he did good things. That through all the hardships and sad things that I’m sure happened, he did everything that he could.” She intends to go into Kirito’s world and save him from his own self-hatred by bringing him love. It’s a strikingly messianic development, bringing to mind the Savior who came into our world in order to provide us forgiveness and love and save us from a truly hopeless fate that we brought on ourselves. Later, the narrative adds another messianic parallel to Asuna’s character. It observes, “Her order of priorities had been set in stone years ago. She would commit any sin to protect Kirito–Kazuto Kirigaya. She would accept any punishment.” Of course, Jesus is perfect and didn’t sin in order to save us: “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth” (1 Pet. 2.22). But he certainly was willing to accept any punishment for our sake: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us,” (Gal. 3.13) and “For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5.21). Jesus himself was innocent of sin, but he took on the punishment our sins deserve in order to express his love for us. Similarly, Asuna is willing to suffer, to pay any price, because of her love for, and desire to save, Kirito. She’s no Jesus, but the Christlike echoes ring true. (Of course, one great difference is that Asuna enters the Underworld with a admin account that gives her all the glory and powers of a goddess, while Jesus “emptied himself” and entered our world an ordinary, humble baby (Phil. 2.7).) The entire endeavor of saving Kirito hinges on the soul and love being forces beyond the realm of modern science.

In a somewhat different way, love provides another opportunity to affirm the immaterial nature of the spirit when Alice meets Tiese and Ronie, the swordswomen trainees Kirito and Eugeo had worked with. Alice quickly realizes that Ronie was in love with Kirito. Ronie dismisses the idea, declaring she is unworthy of such of thing. Tiese steps in to explain how Kirito and Eugeo fought to protect them and thereby violated the Taboo Index. She and Ronie believe that if they had been wiser, Kirito and Eugeo would never have ended up getting arrested, and thus Eugeo wouldn’t be dead and Kirito catatonic. Seeing their own actions as the cause of what happened to Kirito and Eugeo, Tiese concludes “We don’t have a right to express any love to them.” When Alice protests that this perspective is wrong, Ronie answers that the villainous aristocrats “treated our bodies like their playthings, and now our dignity has been stained with sin!”

Alice counters that “The body is nothing more than a vessel for the heart,” and that the soul “is the one thing that truly exists.” Within the story, it’s technically true that Alice and the others are souls without bodies — they are artificially created fluctlights that exist within a computer. In real life, however, Christianity holds that humans are unions of body and spirit and that both body and spirit are significant. There can be no such thing as a soul without a body, except for the not-yet-resurrected dead. The greatest testimony to the significance of our bodies is the promise of resurrection. Jesus wasn’t a disembodied spirit — he was raised from the dead bodily. So also the Bible says that we won’t be ghosts floating around heaven: we, too, will be raised from the dead, our bodies and spirits reunited and transformed. Thus, Alice’s dismissal of the body may go too far, even though it’s actually true in the context of the story. But though her statement is faulty in the degree to which it dismisses the importance of the body, underlying Alice’s point is an affirmation that humans have an immaterial soul. We — and Ronie and Tiese — are not defined solely by our bodies.

Alice further argues, “The only one who can determine the nature of the soul is the self… Your body and appearance are entirely dependent on your heart… Nobody can defile your heart.” Her words bring to mind a point Jesus made, after the Jews complained that his disciples neglected to engage in certain hand washing rituals:

“There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him. …Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled? …What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mk. 7.15-23)

Alice thus agrees with Jesus, correctly affirming that what is done to the body cannot defile the soul. The spirit’s independence from bodily defilement also indicates its immaterial nature. Jesus warns that truly corrupting evil arises within the heart, and although Alice expresses it quite a bit differently, she’s makes a similar point: the will of the heart takes precedence over the external and physical. We have the free will to decide what kind of people we will be. In arguing that the girls’ true selves were not defiled by what was done to them, Alice affirms the existence of an immaterial self.

As war begins, a series of incidents involving other Integrity Knights also point to the power of love, and concurrently continue the story’s argument for a dualistic view of the soul. When the story examines Deusolbert Synthesis Seven’s motivation to participate in the war, it looks at the Integrity Knight’s past. It turns out that throughout all his many years as an Integrity Knight, Deusolbert experienced dreams of a memory from before he became an Integrity Knight: “A small, pale hand, so white the skin seemed clear. A simple silver ring that glinted on its finger. The hand brushed his hair, touched his cheek, and shook his shoulder. There was a soft, gentle whisper: “Wake up, dear. It’s morning…” Deusolbert himself had always possessed a ring that matched the one on this mysterious hand of his dreams. After Kirito defeated Quinella, Deusolbert learned the truth about the Administrator and the Integrity Knights, and realized the hand in his dreams must have belonged to a real human, and that its owner is long since dead. Amid his deep grief, Deusolbert still answers the call of the leader of the Integrity Knights:

“He would fight to protect the world in which he and the owner of that little hand had lived, no matter how long ago it had been. In other words, the source of Deusolbert Synthesis Seven’s strength, that which made him capable of holding his ground before the charge of an invading army, was the power of the one emotion that should have been erased from his mind: love.”

This love, immaterial and unscientific though it seems, somehow endured the Administrator’s manipulative powers and goes on to affect the world by giving Deusolbert the strength to fight. And he is not alone in fighting for love.

During the battle, Integrity Knight Dakira Synthesis Twenty-Two sacrifices herself to save her commander, Fanatio, from Sigurosig, chieftain of the giants and one of the leaders of the invading army. As Fanatio processes her comrade’s death, the Integrity Knight thinks to herself about the junior knights she leads:

“She had placed them under her care to train and protect them. She gave them only harsh words of discipline, but they were her beloved brothers and sisters. And now they were protecting her and losing their lives because of it… ‘It will not happen!!’ she swore, to herself, to Sigurosig, to the world. She would not allow more of them to die. She would keep the other three alive, for Dakira’s sake. This determination became a firm Incarnation of Love that surpassed Sigurosig’s churning bloodlust and shot forth from Fanatio’s soul.”

In other words, as Fanatio battles an enraged giant, her love for her junior knights manifests as reality-altering power that turns the tide of the battle at that moment. Once again, the narrative highlights love as a world-changing force linked to the soul. The story never says so, but it’s hard to escape the inference that if love can accomplish these feats, it’s also going to be able to save Kirito.

Finally, there’s the last stand of Integrity Knight Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One. Eldrie cared deeply for his mentor Alice. He respected Alice a great deal, but also wrestled with conflicted feelings of wanting something more than just being her apprentice.  He cared about her as more than just a mentor, but Alice didn’t see him in the same light. As such concerns distract him during the battle, he hears a voice:

“Your determination– –your desire to protect– –needs no payment in return, does it? Love is not something you ask for. You just give and give and give it, and it never runs out. Isn’t that right…?“

Thinking on this mysterious voice’s words, Eldrie ponders why he got so twisted into knots over wanting Alice’s affection. “What got me so confused?” he asks, “That I didn’t have enough strength? That I couldn’t monopolize her feelings? That I wasn’t able to protect her? What tiny, insignificant things…” This reminder that love doesn’t depend on getting anything in return helps Eldrie realize he can act on his love for Alice even if she doesn’t respond in exactly the way he’d hoped. Eldrie finds the strength to heroically sacrifice himself to protect Alice from a massive enemy attack. Through this epiphany, love once again proves powerful enough to alter the course of the battle.

By the end of volume 16, Kirito still isn’t out of the woods, but the narrative has provided strong reason to hope that love really is powerful enough to help his soul, powerful enough to do what science cannot. I imagine the topic will see further exploration, but even now the story has clearly challenged the science-based explanation of the soul that it previously set up. Fluctlights might be containable within a computer, but the seems to be that the human mind or self ultimately transcends such strictly physical parameters. It’s fascinating to see the story explore such a profound and relevant issue. I’m sure no one gets their view of the soul entirely from reading light novels, but fiction of this sort provides a helpful venue for exploring such a philosophical/scientific question. I look forward to watching how future volumes continue the conversation.

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Sword Art Online can be viewed on Crunchyroll.

#anime #christianity #sword art online #sword art online alicization #light novels #love #materialism #soul #articles #Author: Jeskai Angel

[undertale-rho]

Underearth: Book 2 - Chapter 3

BOOOOOOOM!!! A spear glowing light-blue suddenly slammed into the ground in front of Frisk with the force of a small meteor.

"HOLD IT, HUMAN!!!" a commanding voice demanded.

Oh, right on time. Frisk thought as he looked to the top of a lone crag. Atop of which stood the massive intimidating armored figure of Undyne. When Frisk saw them, Undyne leapt off the crag, landing with great force into the ground in front of him, behind the spear.

For safe measure, Frisk grabbed the spear, yanking it out of the ground (easy to do when the ground has been pulverized), and pointed it at Undyne.

"Seven." the imposing figure said. "Seven Human SOULs, and King Asgore will become a god. Six. That's how many we have collected thus far." She then looked right at Frisk. "Understand? Through your seventh and final SOUL, this world will be transformed."

"Does it look like I care? I want to help you Monsters, really, but I'd also like to live, thanks."

Undyne growled like a primal animal.

"YOU!" she screamed. "You're standing in the way of everybody's hopes and dreams! Alphys's history books made me think Humans were cool... with their giant robots and flowery swordswomen."

Their giant what and flowery what?

"BUT YOU? You're just a coward! Hiding behind that kid so you could run away from me again!"

"I helped him because he was in trouble!" Frisk shouted defensively.

"And let's not forget your wimpy goody-two-shoes-schtick!" Undyne continued, completely ignoring Frisk's objections. "Oooh! I'm making such a difference by hugging random strangers!"

Hugging? Who? What the hell is she talking about?

"You know what would be more valuable to everyone?"

"What?"

"IF YOU WERE DEAD!!!"

Frisk held tighter onto the spear.

"That's right, Human! Your continued existence is a crime! Your life is all that stands between us and our freedom! Right now, I can feel everyone's hearts pounding together! Everyone's been waiting their whole lives for this moment! But we're not nervous at all. When everyone puts their hearts together, they can't lose! Now, Human! Let's end this, right here, right now. I'll show you how determined Monsters can be!"

After saying this, she summoned another spear into her own hand and swung at Frisk, who brought up his spear just in time, though the force of the collision still managed to knock Frisk off his feet.

"Oh come on! How weak can you get?" Undyne taunted, jumping away from Frisk.

Frisk got back up on his feet.

"Heh, you know, for a runt, you're quite the determined one! So how about THIS?" Undyne began summoning a myriad of spear behind her, all aimed directly at Frisk.

No...! I have to get out of here! But how...?

"READY? HERE THEY COME!!!" Undyne shouted, pointing straight at Frisk, causing the spears to launch at full speed at him.

"NO!!!" Frisk screamed, bringing the spear in his hands up to his head and closing his eyes. Very soon after, Frisk could feel the force of the spears in his arms, but no pain. Curious, Frisk opened his eyes a bit to see what was going on. A dome of energy of some kind had formed over Frisk's hands and expanded, in a circle, the entirety of his body.

"What the hell!?" both Frisk and Undyne said at the same time.

"HOW THE HELL ARE YOU MAKING A SHIELD!?!" Undyne demanded of Frisk. "No, you know what... I DON'T CARE! SEE IF YOU CAN BLOCK THIS!"

A yellow spear appeared above Undyne and shot at Frisk, who brought the spear and shield up to block it. Just as it was about to hit the shield, the yellow spear shot upward, bouncing around everywhere as though it was hitting many invisible walls, until eventually it made its way behind Frisk. Seeing where it was going to strike, Frisk brought the spear and shield around to block the spear at the last second.

"DAMN IT! So, you're a MAGICIAN, HUH!!"

A Magician? What is she talking about?

"Yeah, I can see it. The ivory in your eyes. You are a Magician!!!"

Ivory in my eyes? As Frisk thought on this, the ivory disappeared and the shield dissipated.

"HA! BETTER WATCH OUT, YOU SHIELD HAS DROPPED!!!" Undyne shouted, throwing the spear in her hands at Frisk.

Frisk looked up to see the spear approaching. In a state of panic, the shield returned, though much smaller than before, and hit the oncoming spear, ricocheting it back at the crag.

Both Frisk and Undyne watched the spear sail through the air at the crag. Once it hit it, a massive boulder became dislodged and it fell toward Undyne. As the boulder approached her, the spear Frisk was holding disappeared. Just before it crushed her, she brought her arms up and caught it, though the kinetic force of the boulder continued through Undyne, leaving a massive crater where she was standing. It looked as though she was stuck.

This is my chance. Frisk thought, running to the cave in the crag.

Undyne took no notice to Frisk. As he passed her, Undyne was getting a firmer grip on the rock. When Frisk was about half-way down the passage, he looked back just in time to see Undyne suplex the boulder with enough force to shatter it completely.

When she'd recovered from suplexing the boulder, she looked back to where Frisk was standing before it fell only to see nothing. Looking around, Undyne saw that Frisk was passing the "Welcome to Hotland" sign far down the passage.

"HEY!!!" she yelled, running after him. "GET BACK HERE."

Not a chance.

Soon, Frisk was hit with a sudden wave of heat as he stepped out into the Hotlands. The water he'd collected in his clothes began evaporating almost as soon as he entered, leaving a cloud of steam behind him. As he ran, he saw Sans sitting behind a sentry station, though he was clearly quite asleep.

"SANS!!! STOP THAT HUMAN!" Undyne shouted, though Sans seemed unphased. "Lazy... I'll deal with you later." she said, continuing to run at Frisk in her heavy armor.

As they both reached an island in the river of lava far below, Undyne suddenly collapsed. Hearing the sudden collapse of metal onto the igneous, Frisk stopped running as well, looking behind him.

"Undyne!" he shouted, running back, but stopping before getting too close. No... this is a trap. I can't get too close.

Frisk began to back away when he heard a weak voice coming from the armor.

"Armor... so... hot..." Undyne said, very weak.

This... this isn't a trap. She's actually in trouble!

"Hang on!" Frisk said, somewhat panicking.

Frisk knelt down next to Undyne's head and gently removed her helmet. It then occurred to him that this was the first time he had seen her face. Her facial features looked like that of a Human, but blue and scaly, though she lacked an evident nose. She had long, flowing red hair and an eye-patch that covered her left eye.

"Water..." she mumbled sleepily. "Need... water..."

"Water. Where could I find some water? I... I could try dragging you back to the caves, but it's too far..."

Something in the corner of Frisk's eye then caught his attention. Looking over at what it was, he saw a water cooler.

"Water!" Frisk stood up and ran over to the water cooler. He then worked on unscrewing the large bottle on top, which was filled completely with clear, cool-looking water. Upon unscrewing it, Frisk flipped it over and removed the cap that prevented the water from draining unless a switch was pressed. He then proceeded to dump the entire contents of the water cooler onto Undyne.

After a few seconds, Undyne opened her yellow eye again. Sitting up and looking around, she saw Frisk holding the water-cooler bottle.

Without saying a word, she stood up, narrowed her eye, looked down at the ground, picked up her helmet, and walked back to the Waterfall Caves.

"You're welcome." Frisk said.

After saving Undyne, Frisk received a phone-call from Papyrus saying that Frisk, him, and Undyne should all hang out sometime, thinking they'd make great pals. He then said that he'd go and wait for him in front of her house. Before Frisk could raise even the slightest protest, Papyrus hung up.

Sighing, Frisk pulled out the pocketwatch and looked at it.

"If this turns sour, you better roll back time, or you could tell me now." he said to it.

Nothing happened, so Frisk just sighed again, stuffed the pocketwatch away, and started making his way to the river. Upon reaching the river, the Riverperson introduced himself, and asked if he would like to ride the boat. Frisk asked to go to the Waterfall Caves and, soon after, they both arrived. Frisk then made his way to the Quiet Village and began searching for Undyne's house. It didn't take him long to find it, however, since it was the only house shaped like a fish as well as the only house to have a very great skeleton standing outside it. Piano music could be heard coming from the fish-house.

"OHO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES!" Papyrus said upon seeing Frisk. "ARE YOU READY TO HANG OUT WITH UNDYNE?"

"Boy, am I." Frisk said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"GREAT! I HAVE A PLAN TO MAKE YOU TWO GREAT FRIENDS!"

This can only end in tears... Frisk thought.

"OKAY! NOW, STAND BEHIND ME!"

Papyrus knocked on the door. The piano stopped, soon followed by the door opening.

"Hi, Papyrus!" Undyne said. "Ready for your extra-private, one-on-one training?"

"YOU BET I AM!" Papyrus said with a bit more enthusiasm than normal. "AND I BROUGHT A FRIEND!"

Papyrus stepped to the side, revealing Frisk.

"Hi, I don't think we've—" Undyne suddenly realized exactly who she was now looking at.

In the moment of silence that followed, Undyne looked enraged. She then looked at Papyrus, as though expecting an explanation as to why there was now a Human standing just outside her door, but no explanation ever came. Eventually, Undyne broke the silence.

"Why don't. You two. Come in?" She said through clenched teeth, her movements stiff as she gestured them inside, then moved further inside herself.

Papyrus gave a very quick little dance of joy before entering as well, reluctantly followed by Frisk.

The inside of the house wasn't much at all. There was a table with some stools around it to the right of the door, a piano to the left, and the far wall had, from right to left, a fridge, counter, stove, sink, and another door.

Once both Papyrus and Frisk were inside, Undyne turned around to face her guests.

"So, are we ready to start?" she said, still holding back her anger.

"WHOOPSY DOOPSY! I JUST REMEMBERED! I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!! YOU TWO HAVE FUN!!!" Papyrus pointed at both Frisk and Undyne with finger-guns before launching himself with the force of a rocket through the left window (being the right eye of the fish-house) and disappearing into the darkness of the caves.

An awkward silence fell between Frisk and Undyne, though it soon came to an end.

"So why are you here?" Undyne asked Frisk, her voice a dangerous tone. "To rub your victory in my face? To humiliate me even further? IS THAT IT?"

"What? No! Not at all!" Frisk replied.

"Then why are you here?"

"Perhaps to get a 'thank you' for saving your life back there."

"Saving my life? HAH! You can't honestly think that! I wasn't in danger."

"You were lying on the ground. You were as dry as bone, begging for water."

"I WOULD HAVE RATHER DIED THERE THAN ACCEPT HELP FROM A FILTHY HUMAN!!!" Undyne shouted.

Frisk flinched and looked down at the ground, shaking.

"If you weren't my houseguest," Undyne said after calming down a bit, "I'd kill you right now! You're the enemy of everyone's hopes and dreams! I NEVER NEED HELP FROM A HUMAN, AND I WILL NEVER THANK ONE. Now get out of my house!"

Frisk didn't need to be told twice. Upon being told to leave, Frisk flipped around to face the door.

Brilliant plan, Papyrus. Get me into Undyne's house then leave? Great idea.

Just before Frisk reached the door, he heard Papyrus's voice coming from the window he had launched through.

"DANG! WHAT A SHAME... I THOUGHT UNDYNE COULD BE FRIENDS WITH YOU. BUT I GUESS I OVERESTIMATED HER. SHE'S JUST NOT UP TO THE CHALLENGE."

"CHALLENGE!? What!? Papyrus! Wait a second...!" Undyne called up to the window, but Papyrus was already gone. "Damnit! He thinks I can't be friends with you!? FUHUHU! What a joke! I could make friends with a wimpy loser like you any day! I'll show him! Listen up, Human. We're not just going to be friends. We're going to be... BESTIES. I'll make you like me so much... You won't be able to think of anyone else!!! Fuhuhuhu! It's the perfect revenge!! Ur... Why don't you have a seat?" Undyne gestured to a stool at the end of the table.

Papyrus... You're a frickin' genius.

"Uh... Thanks, Undyne." Frisk said, sitting down on the stool closest to the door.

"Comfortable?" She asked, clearly struggling to remain calm. "I'll get you something to drink. What would you like?"

"Um, what do you have?"

She walked over to the fridge. "I have hot chocolate and tea."

Frisk thought on the two options. I've never had tea before, but it's been far too many years since I last had hot chocolate...

"I'll take the hot chocolate, please." he said.

"Hot chocolate, huh." She grabbed the container. "Wait, I just remembered... the container's empty."

"Oh, alright. I guess I'll have the tea, then."

"Coming right up!"

Undyne pulled a box of tea from the fridge and put it on the counter. She then pulled a kettle from the fridge, poured water into it from the kitchen sink, then pulled a packet of tea from the box and poured the contents into the kettle.

"It'll take a moment for the water to boil." she said, standing next to the stove.

Both Frisk and Undyne sat there in awkward silence for the next few seconds. It was beginning to feel a bit hot in the house, though Frisk couldn't tell if it was actually heating up or if he was just getting more nervous. Eventually, though, the kettle started screaming that the water was boiling.

"Okay, it's all done!" she said, taking it off the burner and pouring some into a small blue cup before bringing it to Frisk. "Here we are. Careful, it's hot."

Undyne went over to the other side of the table and sat down while Frisk blew on the tea. After a few seconds, he took a sip. Still too hot, but pretty good none the less.

"It's pretty good, right?" Undyne asked. "Nothing but the best for my absolutely precious friend!!"

Frisk said nothing. Instead, he continued to blow on the tea to cool it down and take sips every now and then.

"Hey... You know... It's kind of strange you chose THAT tea." Undyne said.

Not really. It was kinda the only choice.

"Golden flower tea... That's Asgore's favorite kind. Actually, now that I think about it... You kind of remind me of him."

"I remind you of King Asgore? How?" Frisk asked.

"You're both total weenies!!!"

Oh...

"... sort of."

They both sat in silence for a bit. Frisk took this time to finish drinking the tea.

"Y'know, I was a pretty hotheaded kid." Undyne said, breaking the silence. "Once, to prove I was the strongest, I tried to fight Asgore."

"Wait, you tried to fight Asgore!?"

"Yeah. Emphasis on tried. I couldn't land a single blow on him! And worse, the whole time, he refused to fight back! I was so humiliated... Afterwards, he apologized and said something goofy... 'Excuse me, do you want to know how to beat me?' I said yes, and from then on, he trained me. One day, during practice, I finally knocked him down. I felt... bad. But he was beaming... I had never seen someone more proud to get their butt kicked. Anyway, long story short, he kept training me... And now I'm the head of the Royal Guard! So I'm the one who gets to train dorks to fight!"

"Like Papyrus?" Frisk asked.

"Uh, yeah. But, um, to be honest... I don't know if... I can ever let Papyrus into the Royal Guard."

"What!? Why?" Frisk said, shooting up in his seat. "He's strong! It's his entire life goal to be in the Royal Guard!"

"Don't get me wrong, Human, it's not that he's weak. He's actually pretty freaking tough! It's just that... He's... He's too innocent and nice!!! I mean, look, he was supposed to capture you... And he ended up being friends with you instead!" she said that last bit with some malice in her voice. "I could never send him into battle! He'd get ripped into little smiling shreds."

Frisk sat back down. She had a point...

"That's part of why... I started teaching him how to cook, you know? So, um, maybe he can do something else with his life."

A moment of silence fell between the pair once again.

"Oh, sorry, I was talking for so long... You're out of tea, aren't you?" Undyne asked.

"What? Oh, yeah..." Frisk said, handing her the empty cup.

"I'll get you some more." She said, grabbing the cup and walking over to where the kettle was. Once she reached it, however, she stopped completely. "Wait a second." she said. "Papyrus... His cooking lesson... HE WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT RIGHT NOW!!! And if he's not here to have it... YOU'LL HAVE TO HAVE IT FOR HIM!!!"

Undyne swept everything that was on the counter into the sink with her arm. "That's right!!! Nothing has brought Papyrus and I closer than cooking! Which means that if I give you his lesson... WE'LL BECOME CLOSER THAN YOU CAN EVER IMAGINE!!! Fuhuhu!!! Afraid!? We're gonna be best friends!!!"

Undyne jumped over to Frisk, picked him up, and leapt back to the counter next to the fridge and put him down.

"Let's start with the sauce!!" she said, pulling some tomatoes from the fridge and putting them on the counter. "Envision these tomatoes as your greatest enemy! Now!! Pound them into dust with your fists!!"

"Now you're talkin'." Frisk said, bringing his fist up and then bring it down on a tomato, smashing it completely.

"YEAH! YEAH! Our hearts are uniting against these healthy ingredients! NOW IT'S MY TURN! NGAHHH!" Undyne brought her arms down on the tomatoes, turning them all into paste.

"Uhh, we'll just scrape this into a bowl later. But for now!" Undyne opened the fridge again and pulled a large pot out of it, along with a box of noodles. "We add the noodles!"

Undyne thrust the box of noodles into Frisk's surprised arms.

"Homemade noodles are the best!" she said. "BUT I JUST BUY STORE-BRAND! THEY'RE THE CHEAPEST!!! NGAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Frisk simply looked up at Undyne while she did this, though she eventually took notice.

"Uhh, just put them in the pot."

Frisk looked at the pot. It was completely empty, not even filled with water. Thinking for just a second, he knew exactly what he was going to do.

"NGAHHHHHHHHHH" Frisk screamed, raising the box of noodles high over his head before bringing them down, full force, straight into the pot.

"YEAH!!! I'M INTO IT!!!" Undyne shouted. "Alright! Now it's time to stir the pasta! As a general rule of thumb, the more you stir, THE BETTER IT IS! Ready? Let's do it!"

Undyne gave Frisk a wooden spoon to stir with. Frisk slammed it into the pot and stirred the box around as hard as he could.

"Stir harder!" Undyne said. Frisk stirred harder.

"HARDER!" She said again after a few seconds.

Frisk could feel his arms getting tired, but he stirred harder nonetheless.

"HARDER!!!!" Undyne laughed.

"NGAHHHHHHHHHH" Frisk screamed, stirring so hard that the spoon broke.

Undyne laughed. "Here, let me do it!" she said, summoning a spear and beating the pot so hard it compressed down about half its height. "Fuhuhuhu! That's the stuff!"

Nice.

"Alright, now for the final step: TURN UP THE HEAT! Let the stovetop symbolize your passion! Let your hopes and dreams turn into burning fire! READY? Don't hold anything back!!!"

Frisk took hold of the dial and started cranking it higher. By the time the dial had reached the second lowest setting, a small fire had appeared underneath the pot and the pot was beginning to melt. It was definitely getting hotter.

"Hotter!" Undyne shouted. Frisk continued turning.

When Frisk got to the next setting, flames had completely engulfed the pot, and the pot was glowing a bright red.

"HOTTER, DARNIT!" Undyne shouted again. Frisk, finding great difficulty due to the large fire, kept turning it up.

The next higher setting saw the flames engulf half the stovetop. The pot was nowhere to be found.

"HOTTER!!!!!!!"

Frisk, throwing caution to the wind, turned the dial to the hottest setting.

"Wait, that's too—"

It was too late. The stove exploded in a wave of heat, flame, and shrapnel. Upon seeing it explode, a bubble suddenly appeared around Frisk, who'd brought his arms up to defend himself from the explosion.

When the smoke finally cleared, he looked around. He was now behind the table.

The explosion must have knocked me back, he thought, but I didn't feel a thing...

Hovering half-a-foot away from his body was a lot of shrapnel from the stove. Looking at where the stove was, there was now a relatively large crater. The roof of Undyne's house had been blown off and was now stuck in the ceiling of the cavern above. Everything around the stove was gone as well.

"Ah." Undyne said. Frisk looked around to see that a similar bubble had appeared around Undyne, shrapnel hovering half-a-foot away from her body as well. She was also not standing in the same place. The explosion must have knocked her back as well. "Man, no wonder Papyrus sucks at cooking." she said.

As she made her way over to Frisk, Frisk could see that the area immediately around the pupil of her eye was glowing an off-white color.

"It's a good thing you're so good at Shield Magic." she said, offering a hand to Frisk to lift him up. "Otherwise that explosion would have killed you."

Frisk took Undyne's hand, and she heaved him onto his feet. They both admired the wreckage of the house.

"So what's next?" Undyne asked. "Scrapbooking? Friendship bracelets?"

Frisk didn't know what to say. Your... your house is rubble, and you're still on about that?

"... oh, who am I kidding." Undyne eventually said, her voice a lot less enthusiastic than before. "I really screwed this up, didn't I?"

You think? Look at your house!

"I can't force you to like me, Human. Some people just don't get along with each-other. I understand if you feel that way about me."

"You're still on about that whole friendship thing? Seriously? Look at what's happened to your house!" Frisk said, unable to keep quiet any longer.

"What? My house? That's what you're worried about?" Undyne asked.

"Yeah! I mean, look at it. Your stove exploded!"

Undyne gave a hearty laugh. "Oh, don't worry about that, Human. This usually happens at least once a week."

Wow, no wonder it seemed empty.

"So, even after all that's been done, you're still worried about me, huh?"

"Well sure, why not?"

Undyne thought on that for a bit. "Heh, you know what? I'm actually concerned about you too now. At first, I hated your stupid saccharine schtick, but... The way you were concerned for me right now, it... reminded me of someone I used to train with. Now I know you aren't just some wimpy loser. You're a wimpy loser with a big heart! Just like him..."

Undyne went silent, deep in thought. During this time, a chunk of the roof dislodged from the ceiling and fell into the ruins of Undyne's home.

"Listen, Human." Undyne said, still unconcerned. "It seems that you and Asgore are fated to fight. But knowing him... He probably doesn't want to. Talk to him. I'm sure you can persuade him to let you go home. Eventually, some mean Human will fall down here... And I'll take their SOUL instead. That makes sense, right?"

Frisk nodded.

"Oh, and if you do hurt Asgore... I'll take the Human SOULs... Cross the Barrier... And beat the hell out of you! That's what friends are for, right? Fuhuhu! Now let's get the hell out of this ruined house!"

"Yes, let's."

Undyne's bubble then dropped, causing the shrapnel to drop to the floor. She then summoned one of her spears and threw it at the door, causing the entire section of wall there to collapse. They both then exited the remains of the building.

"Well, that was fun, huh?" Undyne said when they were clear. "We'll have to hang out again another time...! But, uh, somewhere else I guess."

"Yeah. Maybe not blow up wherever we hang next time." Frisk said, his bubble disappearing as well, causing the rubble caught in it to fall to the ground.

"In the meantime, I guess I'll go hang with Papyrus. So if you need me, drop by Snowdin, okay!? OH! And if you ever need help... give me a call." She then gave Frisk a slip of paper. "Well, see ya later, punk!!"

Undyne ran off to Snowdin. Frisk, on the other hand, made his way to the main plaza of the Quiet Village. From there, he started towards the river where the Riverperson was, though as he got to the passage that would lead to the river, he saw them again. The mysterious cloaked figure that hid in the shadows, watching him.

"Is that...? HEY!" Frisk shouted at the figure.

Whoever it was began moving away from Frisk.

"Wait! Come back!" He shouted to no avail. "Dangit." Frisk said as he ran after the figure.

Frisk chased the figure through the dark maze that stood between the Quiet Village and the border to the Hotlands. Soon, however, Frisk had lost sight of the figure, and was hopelessly lost. The only light he had to guide him was the grass below that lit up when disturbed.

Wandering through the darkness, Frisk eventually saw some light emanating from a fissure in the cave wall. Excited from the light, Frisk ran to it and squeezed through the fissure.

The other side of the fissure was well lit. Stones all around the cavern shone bright with a cool-blue light. The area, though the ceiling was relatively tall, was rather small. Strange animal-like Monsters wandered the area, some entering and exiting through a smaller hole perpendicular to the fissure, across from a large, cut-out doorway. At the end of the area, across from the fissure, stood a great stone statue depicting another Monster like the ones wandering around. The statue stood on a pedestal with the word "TEM" engraved in the front. Signs were posted absolutely everywhere.

The sign nearest the fissure read "hOI!! welcom to... TEM VILLAGE!!!"

Frisk meandered deeper in, finding a grand painting of another one of these Monsters riding the tail of a seawyrm. The bottom of the frame stated the name. "Rich history of Tem. Tem and Jormungandr."

Continuing in, Frisk reached the part of the wall that had been quarried out. Two signs stood in front of the doorway. The first one read: "hOI!! u shud check out... TEM SHOP!!!", and the second one read: yaYA!! i AGREES!! shud check... TEM SHOP!!!"

What the hell is with this writing? Frisk thought.

Before he managed to move anymore, four of the Monsters wandering around approached him.

"hOI!! im temmie!!!" the first one said. "and dis is my friend... temmie!!!" it said, pointing to the second in line.

"hOI!! im temmie!!!" the second one said. "and dis is my friend... temmie!!!" it also said, pointing to the third in line.

"hOI!! im temmie!!!" the third one said. "don forget my friend!" it pointed to the fourth in line.

"Hi." the fourth one said. "I'm Bob."

"Um... Hi, Temmie, Temmie, Temmie, and Bob. I'm a bit lost."

"lost? sdfsjhf not gud. ask bob... he no lots."

Frisk looked to the fourth Monster.

"Where are you trying to get to?" Bob asked.

"The Hotlands."

Bob stepped out of the line and towards the fissure. "Yeah, I know the way."

"shud hurry bak." one of the Temmies called out.

"bOI!"

Frisk squeezed back through the fissure.

"So, what's with them?" Frisk asked Bob as they walked.

"What do you mean?"

"Er... the way they speak."

Bob stopped and looked back at Frisk. "is tem spek, yaYA!" he said before turning back around and walking. "They do it to honor the great hero, Tem. It is our custom, our language, our heritage."

"Who's Tem?" Frisk asked.

Bob stopped walking and turned around. "You don't know of the great and famous hero Tem?"

"Er, no... Should I?"

"Well, I mean, not really I guess. They only saved the entire world. No big deal." Bob said, leading the way again.

"They saved the world? What'd they do?"

"They destroyed a great evil. We're nearing the Hotlands now, so the questionnaire is over."

Frisk looked up. They were both standing at the crag where Frisk and Undyne fought.

"I'm sure you know the way from here. bOI!!!" Bob said before leaving.

Frisk sighed. "There's so much I don't know about... everything. A hero, living right here in the Underground, a hero that saved the world."

Replay : Undyne

Previous First posting First of this book Next

#undertale #undertale au #undertale rho #UTRStory #underearth #replay

[advocatewrites-blog]

Into the Unknown Part 4 Chapter 3

Into the Unknown

Fandom: Undertale, Coraline (book), Over the Garden Wall, Paranorman, Gravity Falls (season 2)

Characters: Frisk, Norman B., Dipper P., Mabel P., Coraline J., Wirt, Greg, the Cat, the Frog; Sans, Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Asgore,; the Other Mother, the Beast, Agatha P., Bill Cipher, Asriel D., Chara D.,

Pairings: Not the focus. Alphys/Undyne, with mentions of Papyrus/Mettaton, sans/Toriel/Asgore, and Wirt/Sara. Due to the nature of Undertale and the dating segments, there is also interpretable Papyrus/Wirt, Undyne/Mabel, Alphys/Dipper, Napstablook/Norman, Mettaton/Norman, Mettaton/Mabel, Sans/Dipper, Sans/Norman, and Sans/Greg.

Rated a high +K for violence, mild language, horrific elements that may be disturbing to younger readers,  mentions of child abuse and bullying, character death that is sometimes permanent, and mentions of suicide that may be triggering. These elements remain relatively unchanged from their source material, which most all are for children, but discretion is advised nonetheless.

Disclaimer: Undertale was created and owned by Toby Fox. Coraline was created by Neil Gaiman and owned by Bloomsbury and Laika. Over the Garden Wall was created by Patrick McHale and owned by Cartoon Network. Paranorman was created by Sam Fell and Chris Butler and owned by Laika. Gravity Falls was created by Alex Hirsch and owned by Disney. Any other work mentioned or homage are property of their respective owners. This is a fan-made, nonprofit work that only seeks to entertain. Please support the original franchises.

Chapter 3

“Behind you.”

Dipper tensed up at the Echo Flower’s message. The sound of metal footsteps grows closer.

“Don’t tell me she’s right behind us,” said Dipper.

“Okay,” said Mabel.

“Seven,” said Undyne. “Seven human souls. With the power of seven human souls, our king, King Asgore Dreemurr, will become a god. With that power, Asgore can finally shatter the Barrier. He will finally take the surface back from humanity, and give them back the suffering and pain we have endured. I suppose…he will have a use for two. But first, however, as is customary for those who have travelled this far, I will tell you the story of our people. It all started long ago…

“You know what? SCREW IT! WHY SHOULD I TELL YOU THAT STORY?? WHEN YOU’RE ABOUT TO DIE?? NGHAAAAHH!!!!!”

In a fluid motion, Undyne ripped off her helmet. One eye glinted in the low lights of the Waterfall.

“You two!” said Undyne. “You’re standing in the way of everybody’s hopes and dreams! Alphys’s history books made me think humans were cool…with their giant robots and flowery swordswomen. But you? You’re just cowards. Your life is all that stands between us and our freedom! Right now, I feel everyone’s hearts pounding together! Everyone’s been waiting their whole lives for this moment! When everyone puts their hearts together, they can’t lose! I’ll show you how determined monsters can be!”

Undyne summoned her spear. Dipper’s Soul leaped out of his chest, and turned a bright green color.

“Wait, what does the green do?” Dipper asked.

“Unless you learn to face danger head-on, you won’t last a second against me!!” said Undyne.

Undyne attacks.

A set of bullets in the shape of arrows fly past Dipper. A few break apart as they collide with Dipper’s Soul, bouncing off some sort of shield. Most don’t.

“When I said face danger head-on, I MEANT DODGE THE BULLETS!!!”

“The Kingdom of Monsters resides in these mountains, within the caverns of Mount Ebott,” said one of the heads of the Multibear. “There is a path in this cavern that connects this cavern from this one, but know this: there is no way to exit once you enter.”

With everything else that had been going on, Frisk had nearly forgotten about the Barrier. It was just going to be something else that they did, they decided.

“We will find a way around that,” said the Cat.

“You are determined, then,” said the Multibear. “It will serve you well. We creatures of the forest have long forgotten about Mt. Ebott. The Barrier has shielded us from our brethren for centuries. It would be relieving to be reunited, don’t you agree?”

Frisk nodded again. The Cat squirmed, but they could not tell why.

“I can take you as far as the Barrier, but no farther,” said the Multibear. “And I suggest you prepare in advance.”

“It is quite late,” said the Cat. “If nothing else, I would like the chance to rest.”

“Then I await your return,” said the Multibear.

She disappeared into the shadows again. After a few moments, Frisk heard the sound of an Icelandic pop song in the distance.

They hardly paid attention to the Manutaur’s chorus of boos as they left the cavern. The Cat climbed up onto their shoulders.

“We should head back into town,” said the Cat. “We both need food and rest, and it would not hurt for you to find something you can defend yourself with.”

Frisk nodded. To be honest, the humans scared them more than the Multibear.

“HEY! WHAT’S UP?! I WAS JUST THINKING…YOU, ME, THE OTHER HUMAN, AND UNDYNE SHOULD ALL HANG OUT SOMETIME!! I THINK YOU WOULD MAKE GREAT PALS!!!

“Papyrus this is not a good time for that!” Mabel shouted into the phone as she dodged arrow bullets flying towards it.

“COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE PUNKS!!” Undyne shouted. She was right behind them.

“OKAY! LET’S MEET UP AT HER HOUSE LATER!”

The Waterfall area ended, as suddenly as if Mabel had stepped into another room. The new area was hot and dry, and the dark cave walls became a heavy shade of red. Mabel looked just below her the cliff sides and saw pools of magma.

Undyne was still behind her.

Mabel looked back up and fought the sudden urge or vertigo. She ducked around the corner, and came face to face with a familiar skeleton.

“SANS!” Mabel cried. “sans, help us out!”

sans did not stir from his sleep.

“Come on!” Dipper shouted as he caught up with her.

Undyne was right behind them.

Mabel ran, and the sounds of metal footsteps became more distant. The sounds of Undyne screaming at sans replaced it. There was a sound of a rimshot from…somewhere, and then the metal footsteps increased.

Undyne was right behind them.

Mabel and Dipper spun around and faced her. Mabel looked at Dipper for any indication he had a plan. It was clear he did not.

Undyne took one step towards them. Then another. Then she fell over.

“Oh,” said Dipper. “Well that was anticlimactic.”

The smell of sushi wafted in the air, reminding Mabel of Mermando. And then she realized.

“Wait, she’s a fish! She’s drying out in her armor!” Mabel turned to Dipper. “We have to help her! Do your reverse CPR!”

Dipper glared at her.

“I’M SERIOUS THIS TIME!”

“Okay, fine, I’ll…” Dipper trailed off as he looked for his plan. He settled on a water cooler tucked into the corner. “Fine!”

The water cooler was naturally rather slow, but that was the only part of the plan that was. Dipper raced to and fro as he filled his cup and propped Undyne up in a position needed for CPR. He threw the water into his mouth, and sealed his lips with Undyne.

Once Undyne regained consciousness, she was not very happy about the situation. But she did not say anything. She did not attack them again. She took one long look at them, and left.

“That was awkward,” said Dipper. “Promise me you won’t hold that against me.”

“Of course not!” said Mabel. “But what should I tell Papyrus when we go on our date with Undyne?”

Dipper froze.

“You did not.”

“It was Papyrus’s idea!”

There was a pie sitting out on the windowsill by the diner. Frisk vaguely recalled that was a good way to cool it. The only person she had ever seen bake was Toriel, but she never put her pies out because there was no wind that could have cooled it.

The thought of stealing made their stomach flip. They remembered the monster candy in the Ruins, and how they never stopped feeling bad about it until the bad runs. But the flipping in their stomach would be much worse if they didn’t steal.

The gnomes beat them to it.

“Hey, kid, this is our stash!” said one of the gnomes. Frisk vaguely recalled them as the one the Cat had chased.

The Cat hissed. Most of the gnomes stiffened, but did not otherwise move. The leader reached for another gnome by the beard, and held the sharp point of their hat out like a knife.

Frisk made a motion for the Cat to stand down. It was not worth a fight.

“Good,” said the gnome as he put the other gnome down. “And while we’re at it, can you…um…”

He made a few vague motions for Frisk to grab the pie. They obliged, and handed it down to them.

“Thanks kid!” He called as the gnomes scampered off.

“Really?” said the Cat. “We’re going to have to find our own food now.”

Frisk shrugged.

“Hey kid!”

The Mystery Man stood behind them. He shifted uncomfortably as Frisk looked at him, and avoided eye contact.

“You uh…wouldn’t happen to be looking for someplace to eat, are you?”

Frisk nodded.

The Mystery Man folded his arms over his chest. “Don’t suppose you would want to come with me then?”

Frisk nodded again, this time more enthusiastically.

“Fine. But you’re paying!”

Frisk stuck their tongue out playfully. It reminded them of sans, and of good times.

The diner was small and cozy. It looked to be on the verge of closing, and only one waitress was still out.

“Hey Stan!” She greeted. “Care for a late night snack?”

“Hey Susan. Split me a quarter of the Number 7, and a side of ketchup for the kid,” said

“You got it!”

The waitress left, and they were alone.

“So, uh…” said Stan. “Your parents around here, anywhere?”

Frisk shook their head no.

“So, summer camp or somethin’?”

Frisk shook their head no again.

“You’re on your own then?”

Frisk shrugged.

Stan fell silent for a moment. He was still avoiding eye contact.

“Don’t talk much, do ya?”

Frisk shrugged again. They could feel the Cat’s tail flicking back and forth against their leg. He probably was not sure whether he should speak up or not.

“Well,” said Stan. “Do you at least have a safe place to stay for the night?”

Frisk was not sure. The clones had offered them a camping spot, and they did have the clearing where they spent the night before. But with the Manutaurs against them, it might not be the safest place to stay.

“Well, you know where the Shack is. You might have to compete for a bed with the goat…or with Soos…but it’s better than nothing, believe me,” said Stan. “We were supposed to be having a party tonight, but…guess that ain’t happenin’. It’d be nice to have some kind of company.”

The waitress came back with the food. Stan started to stand from the table.

“Go ahead and put it on my tab, Suze,” said Stan. “I gotta get goin’. Make sure Soos closes down right, and see if the kids haven’t come back yet. You take care, kid.”

Stan walked out, and then it was just Frisk and the Cat.

The ketchup healed quite a bit. Frisk was actually rather surprised. They guessed that was why sans drank it all the time.

“OHO! THE HUMANS ARRIVE!”  said Papyrus. “READY TO BECOME TOTALLY BEST FRIENDS WITH UNDYNE??!”

“Yeah, Papyrus, I don’t think—” Dipper started.

“You bet!” Mabel said.

“GREAT!!! WE ARE GOING TO BE THE BEST OF FRIENDS!!!”

“I don’t think she’s going to want to be friends with us,” said Dipper, to nobody but himself.

“Hey Papyrus,” said Undyne as the door opened. “Ready for your extra special one-on-one training?”

Undyne looked differently than when they had last seen her. She was out of her armor, and into a casual outfit of sweat pants and a tank top. Her scales were much more visible than before, as were the muscles they covered. Her hair was still tied back, but it was much looser than before. She did not look like the kind of person that would have chased two kids to their death.

“YOU BET I AM!!! AND I BROUGHT SOME FRIENDS!!”

“Hi, I don’t think we’ve—” Undyne stopped as she got a good look at her guests. She spoke through gritted teeth. “Why don’t. You come. Inside?”

Papyrus gave the twins a look, danced on the welcome mat as he tried to clean his boots, and walked inside. Mabel gave him a look and followed suit.

Undyne’s house was ordinary as well. In fact, it was rather cute for someone who was the head of the Royal Guard. Yet the air was thick with tension.

Papyrus did not seem to notice.

“OH, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT?!?” Papyrus said “I HAVE TO UM…USE THE BATHROOM! I’LL BE RIGHT BACK!!!”

With that, Papyrus promptly flung himself out the window. It was a while until Dipper heard the landing thud outside.

“I hate it when he does that,” said Undyne. Her attention turned towards them. “So why are you here?”

“We’re here to become friends!” said Mabel.

“Really?” Undyne asked. “How delightful!! I accept! Let’s all frolick in the fields of friendship! …NOT!”

The light that was in Mabel’s eyes quickly extinguished.

“Why would I ever be friends with you?” said Undyne. “If you weren’t my houseguests, I’d beat you up right now! You’re the enemy of everyone’s hopes and dreams! I WILL NEVER BE YOUR FRIEND. Now get out of my house!”

Papyrus’ head poked back in to what was supposed to be the window.

“DANG. WHAT A SHAME. I THOUGHT YOU TWO COULD BE REALLY GOOD FRIENDS WITH UNDYNE. BUT I GUESS…I OVERESTIMATED HER. SHE’S JUST NOT UP TO THE CHALLENGE!!!”

He was gone as quickly as he arrived.

“CHALLENGE?” Undyne roared. “He thinks I can’t be friends with you? Fuhuhu!! What a joke! Listen up humans!! We’re not just going to become friends. We’re gonna be BESTIES. Now why don’t you two have a seat?”

There was no one at the Mystery Shack when Stan returned. So he did what he usually did on a late Thursday night. It was what he did most nights, and it was what he was planning on doing before the kids talked him into a party.  It just so happened that tonight was a more involved process.

It won’t be long now.

The vat of radioactive waste collided with Stan’s toe.

“HOT BELGIAN WAFFLES!” He shouted. “Wait, if no one’s here, then I can swear for real! SON OF A—”

“Excuse me,” a new voice spoke up.

The vat shook more as Stan jumped towards the source. A black cat, the same one that hung around the strange kid, sat on the counter.  He had seen the Cat talk before, when he had spotted the kid trying to steal Lazy Susan’s pie. At that point, however, he was doing his best to forget the gnomes that had followed them. The fact that the Cat had spoken was shocking, but it was just more Gravity Falls weirdness.

It won’t be long now.

The Cat eyed the vat.

“Oh, just go ahead and ignore that,” He said, feeling just a bit foolish.“The kid here too?”

“Yes,” said the Cat. “And they are asleep. I would appreciate if you don’t wake them up. We have a long day tomorrow.”

“Think the town’s gonna form an angry mob to chase you out?”

“No,”

“Then it’s not my problem,” said Stan. “TV’s in the other room, if you make off with the cash register I’ll be very impressed but I’ll still hunt you down.”

“Noted,” said the Cat. “Pleasant dreams.”

It’s been a long time since he’s had any pleasant dreams, but it won’t be long now.

With Undyne on a mission to befriend them, it was surprisingly easy to talk to her.  They talked about the Underground, whether or not Papyrus would ever join the Royal Guard and how Undyne met Asgore. They talked about Gravity Falls and the Surface, what kind of weaponry humans wielded and whether or not ice cream men are preludes to terror.  

(It took Dipper a while to realize that, despite everything, they have yet to have a problem with the ice cream man. This was probably a good thing.)

It was only when Undyne stood to get them more tea when the atmosphere turned tense again.

“Wait a second,” said Undyne. “Papyrus’ cooking lesson…he was supposed to have that right now!! And if he’s not here to have it...THEN YOU TWO WILL HAVE TO DO!”

Undyne jumped onto the kitchen counter. The containers of tea and hot chocolate collided to the ground.

“NOTHING has brought Papyrus and I closer than cooking!” said Undyne. “So if I give you the lesson, WE’LL BECOME CLOSER THAN YOU CAN EVER IMAGINE!!!”

She jumped again, and landed on the broken kitchen table. She seized the twins up by their hair and bounded towards the stovetop.

“FIRST WE’LL MAKE THE SAUCE!” said Undyne.

Mabel and Dipper were dropped onto the stovetop. She stomped on the ground, and a set of vegetables fell from the ceiling and onto the counter.

“Envision these vegetables as your greatest enemy,” said Undyne. “Now!! Pound them to dust with your fist!!”

“I didn’t think cooking was such an involved sport,” said Dipper.

Mabel, however, couldn’t be more excited. She swung her fish down and squashed the solanum.

“THERE YOU GO! NGHAAAH!!!” said Undyne.

She swung her spear down. The vegetables exploded.

“We’ll just scrape that in a bowl later,” said Undyne. “Now, we add the noodles!”

She stomped again, and two pots fell perfectly onto the stovetop. With another passionate cry, she flung something towards the twins. Mable fumbled for a second before she caught it.

“Just go ahead and put them in the pot,” said Undyne.

“You got it, boss!”

Mabel ripped open the box and threw it in. It collided with the empty bottom.

“As a general rule of thumb, the more you stir the pasta, THE BETTER IT BECOMES!!” said Undyne. “Ready?”

“Don’t you need to add water?” Dipper asked.

“LET’S DO IT!”

Mabel stirred as fast as her arms would let her. Undyne summoned another spear and beat it until the pot was collapsing in on itself.

“Now for the final step: TURN UP THE HEAT!!” said Undyne. “Let the stovetop symbolize your passion! Let your hopes and dreams turn into a burning fire! Don’t hold anything back!!!”

Mabel turned the dial, and turned it, and turned it more. She only stopped when she noticed the pot catch on fire.

“Okay, maybe that’s--”

“HOTTER, DAMNIT!!” Undyne cried as she reached over the stovetop.

The flames rose.

“Man,” said Undyne. “No wonder Papyrus sucks at cooking.”

Dipper was too busy trying to not catch on fire to notice.

“So what’s next?” Undyne asked. “Scrapbooking? Friendship bracelets?”

“Yeah!” said Mabel. “Let’s do it!”

“Oh who are we kidding? I’ve been defeated. My house is in shambles. And I failed to make you two my friends,” said Undyne. “I guess some people aren’t meant to get along. But that’s okay. Because if we can’t be friends…THEN I CAN DESTROY YOU WITHOUT REGRET!!!”

Undyne summoned her spear again.

“Wait, wait don’t!” said Dipper. “We still want to be your friends! Really!”

“AN ALL OUT REMATCH ON BOTH SIDES! IT’S THE ONLY WAY FOR ME TO REGAIN MY LOST PRIDE!!” said Undyne.

Mabel looked at Dipper, and the twins hatched a plan.

They lightly shoved Undyne into the counter.

“What?” said Undnye. “That’s the best you can manage?”

“We still want to be your friends,” said Mabel. “And friends generally don’t destroy other friends!”

Undyne looked lost for a minute. Eventually, she closed her eyes and sighed. Her spear faded before it could fall to the ground.

“I don’t want to hurt you, either,” said Undyne. “You two remind me of someone I used to train with.”

Author’s Note: Originally I had this great scene planned that the Cat had to enlist Stan into helping him save Frisk from the Blind Eye...but it didn’t pan out the way I wanted it to. So instead have a feelings chapter.

#Fic #Into the Unknown #undertale #Gravity Falls #Dipper Pines #Mabel Pines #Undyne #Frisk #the Cat #Stan Pines #Papyrus #sans #featured

[rexbooksreview-blog]

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