#her halo is broken but there's fight in her eyes: aesthetic

[brassdivinity]

ABOUT AYLIN || And then I turned away into the shade.

CHARACTER BASICS

NAME: Aylin Feray Bardakci

AGE: Twenty-Six

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cis Woman, She/Her

FACE CLAIM: Aslihan Malbora

EYE COLOR: Brown

HAIR COLOR: Dark Brown, typically dyed bright blue

HEIGHT: 5′4″

DATE OF BIRTH: October 2nd, 1997

ZODIAC SIGN: Libra

LEVEL OF EDUCATION: High School Diploma

OCCUPATION: Tattoo Artist 

NEIGHBROHOOD: 

CHARACTER HISTORY (TW: DRUG ADDICTION, GASLIGHTING, CHILD ABANDONMENT)

One look at Aylin, and many believe that she’s taken on a vibrant protest against the world. The inked flowers on her skin is only a result of pain made permanent, and her bright hair a call for a squinted glance in the eyes of others. Yet, Aylin’s never fought the wrongs in the world. She’s accepted defeat, and laid in the bed it’s set out for her. Tattoos, blue hair, jewelry beyond a dangle on her ear is no more than taking the canvas given to her by the earth and making it a tribute for its wonders. Precious metals, the blueprint to florals, and the brightest colors fallen in awe from the nature around turned into a halo is not a fight against the world but harmony. 

 Aylin, however, does have her protests but they sit in the pit of her stomach where she’s let them weigh her down like stones. It keeps her from running too fast into the face of impulse, and weary of a deep end. Her parents moved to Bradford Springs when she was just fifteen years old, coming into her sophomore year of school right into the middle of the school year. This was an attempt at ensuring their sons would be able to turn their lives around, but no change in scenery would manipulate their taste for destruction. It didn’t take long for them to fall back into bad habits and build the same reputation they had for themselves Aksaray in Bradford Springs. The boys ran through their funds, using their family’s money to support their addictions. Her parents did what they could to keep her safe, even if the menagerie they built around their family for a new start was broken and all they had to keep was Aylin. She was expected to do well in school, to create a second chance for them and herself, to find freedom but all she ever found was solitude. They overworked themselves and rarely came home when she was awake to see them, and her brothers lived most of their stay out on the porch where their mother kicked them out for the haze of drugs that was so thick it filled the house in distain. 

 On the cusp of seventeen, promises withered on both ends. They turned so frail that Aylin’s small prayers to defeat them blew them to dust. The trouble her brothers had caused robbed their family of everything, and love became justification she grew weary of. Forced to go back to Turkey to care for her brothers, her parents moved back and forth before eventually sorting the costs and staying at home. They left Aylin on her own to not exhaust her, but the damage was done. Many believed she was free and were envious of the independence she was given, but she was still in their glass cage. While her brothers finally managed to clean up their act, she was left with every crack they left in her. She struggled with the damage they had done but the lack of physical presence it left on her. Aylin began to question if she’d really been wronged, because she was surviving, and she found ways to ease her mind and let the pain and betrayal she felt become visible even if it was to her alone. 

PRESENT DAY (TW: MENTION FO SELF HARM)

Now twenty-seven, Aylin has become the outcast of her family. She abandoned their expectations and studied art before eventually giving in to tattooing as it guaranteed an income. She specialized in the details of it all, earning a name for herself in single needle tattooing. It holds more than an aesthetic for her, but an addiction that lies in a steady hand and the constant hum of the ink burrowing into her skin as a means of permanence.

HEADCANONS

She has bright blue hair, a characteristic that’s defined her since she was eighteen. She has a variety of tattoos and they are all nature based with florals. Her back tattoo is a mountain range piece that is tailored to every push and pull of her own muscles for each peak. They are all black and white, with the exception of white lilies scattered throughout different designs and a small red poppy in the center of her chest.

Aylin, despite her appearance, is rather reserved and takes time to trust people. She tries to act on impulse like those closest to her but it takes her some time.  

WANTED CONNECTIONS

People she’s known since moving to town at fifteen

People her brothers wronged during their time in town

Any fellow foster kids, or even children of those who fostered her

Classmates

Clients

Enemies, even if its by proxy

Exes and short lived flings

[icando-xnything]

Tag Dump

#there isn't anything that i can't do: audrey #til the casket drops: duke #i wouldn't change any part of me: open starter #hit the ground and bounce right back: closed starter #on my way to seize the day: convos #what's the sitch?: anons #her halo is broken but there's fight in her eyes: aesthetic #face #needs a little more luck than a little bit: dad #wear it all like war paint: mom

[wiypt-writes]

Honey Haloed Weakness

A Bucky Barnes One Shot

Summary: Sometimes second chances come when you least expect them.

Warnings: Bad language, fluff, feels, some sad stuff…character death…mentions of smut but nothing explicit. Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Enhanced Reader. (Nicknamed Honey). Reader appearance bar eyes is deliberately not described. Moodboard is just for aesthetic purposes

Characters: Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson

A/N: This was originally written for a writing challenge last year, and I meant to revamp/repost it for Bucky’s birthday a few days back but never did. Then the rumours of the title for the first ep of FATWS hit my feed and…well, it reminded me of this.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters bar the reader and any other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Main Masterlist

************

One bullet. One pull of the trigger. That was all it took. As you watched, the shot flew clean through the shoulder of one hostile, ricocheted off Sam’s shield and then hit a second straight in the hand causing him to drop the knife he had been slashing at Sam with. The three of you stooped, Falcon, The Winter Soldier and you, Silver Shadow. Shield, guns and sparking hands all lowered as you glanced around, the last noises of your fight dying in the air.

“Man did you just shoot two guys with one bullet?” Sam turned to Bucky, his tone laced with shock and awe. “Did it look cool?” Bucky quipped back, an air of nonchalance in his voice, despite the level of surprise he himself felt.  James Buchanan Barnes knew he was a good shot. But that…that was something else.

And something that had been down to chance more than anything. Even if he had tried to make that shot, there’s no way of predicting the trajectory of the bullet once it emerged from the guys shoulder or controlling the angle it exited at… 

Unless… He turned to look at you. Your hair, splattered with blood and gore from the battle, hung like curtains of scarlet drenched silk round your face, from behind which warm eyes glanced back at him. Your features remained passive, adorned with the same expression you had worn when he had first seen one another in your rundown apartment in Bucharest when Steve had come looking for him post the Vienna bombings. 

Sam turned away muttering something about retrieving the Intel they had come for off the hard drives in the main office, and once his back was turned, you caught Bucky’s eyes with your own and blinked as Bucky swallowed. After using your powers, your irises were always ringed with a bright gold, a honey halo. And, as Bucky allowed himself just a second to indulge in the warmth they exuded over him, one slipped onto a sly wink. And then he knew for certain.

“You did it.” He looked at you and you merely stared back remaining passive. He was right, you had. You’d controlled the shot, directing it exactly where it needed to go. And Bucky wasn’t sure whether he felt turned on or slightly emasculated. “Don’t worry.” You said gently as you made your way back to the jet. “I won’t tell Sam, on one condition?” “Yeah? What’s that?” Bucky asked, turning to look at you. “You ask me out for that drink Steve’s been telling me you want to take me for.” And with that you left him standing there, slack jawed as he watched you head up the ramp. **** “So, in a word, you’re still a punk.” Bucky finished recapping the tale later the next morning, leaning back in the comfy chair by the bed Steve lay in. The old man laughed and shook his head. “She’s a devil, I’ll give her that. Mind you, she always was good at playing the cards she was dealt.” A fond smile spread across Steve’s face at the thought of you, his other best friend, the girl he had pulled from that shitty HYDRA base in 2014 when they had been chasing the Sceptre. No one had any idea who you were, what you could do, where you had come from…and that included you. You hadn’t spoken for three days other than to thank him or Natasha for the food and clothes you were given, and Tony for his kindness. And then, on the fourth day, Steve found you in the kitchen at the base, trying to decide on what to make you for lunch, and he won you over with an expertly made grilled cheese. “What’s your name?” He asked softly as you sat chewing.

“I…I don’t know.” You shrugged, your eyes wide as you looked down at your plate.  Steve gently reached out, his hand taking yours softly as you looked at him, your eyes flashing that sparkling gold colour.

 "Honey, you’re safe now, you know that right?

“Honey…” You said wistfully, “I like that.” 

And so it stuck. Where your ability to manipulate metal came from, no one knew. A mutation? Maybe. Human enhancement experiment? Possibly. But it didn’t matter. What mattered was the fact you embraced the responsibility that came with that power. You wanted to help people and, as such, you agreed to stay with the Avengers and they were better for having Silver Shadow as their teammate, and Honey as their friend. Allowing himself another few moments of nostalgia, Steve eventually shook himself free of his memories and, with a sly look turned his head to face Bucky. “In my eyes it’s normally correct to buy a dame a drink before you bump uglies on an African Plain. Yeah, I know exactly what went down between you two that night in Wakanda.” Bucky blinked before he snorted, shaking his head. “Of course she told you…” When the dust settled after the show down in Leipzig, Bucky didn’t see you for almost a year until you came to Wakanda with Steve to be there when they brought him out of Stasis. You were different then, but so was Steve. A year on the run in the shadows had hardened you both. Those warm eyes still flashed gold, yet they carried a darkness that hadn’t been there before.

But they still exuded all the power and warmth of the sun. And Bucky was on fire.

“Can’t sleep either?” He asked as he emerged from the comfortable farmers hut he had been given to live in. You shrugged. “My mind gets a bit busy sometimes. I find the stars help.” He sat down beside you, stretching his legs out in front of him. “Ever wonder what it’s like just to be normal?” You sighed and he snorted, his head turning slowly to look at you as you gazed up at the sky. “What’s normal?” You laughed softly and looked at him, your eyes flashing in the moonlight, turning this time a deep amber speckled with brown. There was a moment, another blink and then your lips were crashing together, tongues fighting for dominance, hands grabbing at whatever they could reach. Under the moonlight, sultry cries and gentle whimpers were shared. Skin slid on skin, hands wandered and explored as together you reclaimed your grasp on humanity, what it was to feel something other than fear and death and anger. And then you had to leave and it was another twelve months since Bucky saw you again, this time on a battle field in Wakanda…with those creatures. Now your eyes were fierce and laced with a reddish gilt, as you tore metal armour limb from limb, wrenched weapons from hands, made sure shots hit their targets, your daggers flying and returning to your hands.

But there was no beating Thanos. 

“I can’t control his gauntlet.” Your voice was laced with the desperation you felt, broken as you realised your powers were of no use.

And then Bucky had been snapped.

“Those five years were long.” Steve shook Bucky from his reminiscing. “For all of us. Trying to forgive ourselves for our failure. And it was that inability to do so that saw us figure it out, a way to bring everyone back.”

Bucky looked down. He knew all about that. Seeking redemption, wiping your leger clean. “Don’t keep her waiting another five years.” Steve locked his eyes onto Bucky’s. A plea, a beg.

So he didn’t.

Later that night, Bucky asked you for that drink. And he dated you, bought you flowers, made love to you some nights, fucked you into the mattress on others. You ran missions side by side with Sam, walked and danced in the rain.

A diamond ring was bought, a yes was said

And one bright April day a year later, his honey haloed weakness became his wife.

***** “Where are my keys?” Bucky asked, frowning as he gently closed the drawer to the sideboard. “You know, Honey, I wish you’d stop moving my stuff.” No sooner had he finished, he felt a vibration in his pocket and a moment later he heard the keys in question jangling. He turned with a soft sigh to see them hovering about a foot away from him in the air. You stood at the other side of the room, hand raised lightly as you wriggled her fingers causing them to move higher as you arched an eyebrow. “You owe me an apology, Buckaroo.” “So what’s new?” He chuckled and you smiled as you shrugged on your jacket and walked towards him, whilst he checked you had everything your needed. Even for a simple trip down the road it seemed like you were prepping for a mission, but then again, maybe you were… You made your way out of the Brownstone into the glorious September sun, your hand curled around Bucky’s arm, nestling comfortably in the crook of his elbow, the shiny platinum and diamond of your rings sparkling as they caught the light. Bucky had a knack for steering and making sure everyone moved out of the way, which was why you were happy to let him take the lead. After a short walk, you reached your destination and made your way down the familiar narrow gravel path towards what you were aiming for. Your pace slowed a little here, it was always harder on gravel, you felt like you were sinking almost.

Together you stopped in front of a beautiful headstone made out of white marble upon which a simple inscription was etched in deep, gold writing.

‘Steven Grant Rogers. Much loved husband, father and friend.’ Below the wording sat Steve’s symbol. His shield, the star surrounded by rings, along with a simple phrase to remind everyone exactly who the stone commemorated. ‘Captain America is hope, he’s freedom, he’s just a kid from Brooklyn’ Bucky’s metal hand gently ran across the top of the headstone and you smiled softly at him, before a noise drew your attention back to exactly why you had come here today specifically. Smiling at one another, Bucky turned and gently lifted his four day old baby boy from sling around your chest as you watched, reaching up to smooth a finger down the baby’s soft, rosy cheek. Steve had been so excited when you had both told him you were pregnant. But you had all known deep down that Steve’s time was coming to an end. The serum wasn’t repairing what was happening to him anymore, and hadn’t been for a while. Steve had noticed its effects had been dwindling for almost thirty years by that point and he was ready to go, to be with Peggy who had left him some ten years previously. All of you had hoped he would live long enough to meet Baby Barnes, but things never do work out the way you want them to, and Steve had passed quietly surrounded by his friends and family some six weeks before your baby boy bad been born. Bucky had made a vow, a promise to himself that his son would understand exactly who his Uncle Stevie was. Not Captain America, but that little kid from Brooklyn who was always too dumb to run away from a fight. “Had to bring him to meet you one way or another.” Bucky said gently, looking from his son’s face to the stone with a soft smile before he crouched down in front of it. He took a moment, the words he was trying to form sticking in his throat as pure emotion washed over him. He felt grief, he felt loss, but also joy at the fact he was a new father and an overwhelming sense of gratitude and serenity that he had found his salvation, his second chance.

And it was draining to feel it all at once. You stepped forward, softly squeezing his shoulder before you crouched by his side, gently wiping the tears from your own face as Bucky finally found his voice again. “Yeah, it was a him, so I got to pick the name.” Besides him you chuckled. “I can still see your face, Stevie, when we told you about that deal. Girl I picked, boy he picked.” Watery blue eyes that still had that sparkle widened as Steve looked at you both, horror on his face as he shook his head on disbelief. “What? You can’t do that…I mean it needs to be a joint decision, no matter what the gender…surely?” In the end, Steve had been right. Whilst Bucky had suggested the first name for your little boy, he had struggled with a middle one and it had been you who had quietly suggested one as Bucky stood in the hospital room, gently rocking his new-born baby in his arms. Both of you had welled up with tears at the simplicity and the poignancy, and the utter love you both felt that your son would help keep the memory of your friend, your brother, your Captain, alive. “Punk,” Bucky gently shifted the baby in his arms so he was facing the stone. “Say hello to Steven Roger Barnes” His son. His beautiful son. A life created because two people fell in love. 

 Because James Buchanan Barnes had a Honey haloed weakness.

#honey haloed weakness #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #steve rogers #sam wilson

[the-cooler-philza]

Thinking more about Persona 5 DSMP AU again, this time with more Jack manifold! Thoughts and ideas under the cut (part 2)

Unlike Persona 5, the next palace owner is not an artist (as we have covered famous artists with Wilbur) instead the next Palace owner is a police officer who has reasons to believe that Tommy and Co are the ones who made Wilbur stop “the pit” and has interest in figuring out how that happened.

Yusuke/fourth thief: Jack Manifold, a hired PI that works closely with the police department in L’manberg. He was taken in by Karl Jacobs and his fiancés after an incident left him with a broken legs, an unknown person pushing him down a flight of stairs at the police department. Jack tries his best to help Karl at work and will give any evidence he finds to Karl so that Karl can take the credit. Jack is bitter about this, but thinks its a worthy sacrifice to pay his debt to Karl after Karl took care of him. Jack has trust issues when it comes to people walking behind him and will force anyone he’s with to walk in front of him. 

Second Boss/Second Palace Holder: Karl Jacobs, a detective that rose through the ranks fast. He despises people who lie and will force people to tell the truth through blackmail and niceties. He is not above breaking the law or hurting people to get what he wants. He has two fiancés, Sapnap Halo and Quackity Nook, and no other relatives. In high school he was deemed “The nicest person you’ll ever meet” but seems to have changed drastically over the years. Karl has a rivalry with Quackity’s Dad, Sam Awe Nook, but no one knows but Karl and the Phantom Thieves why that is.

The second Palace: Archives of Truth and Lies

Keywords: Karl Jacobs, Police department, “what, like a police archives? Why does he like books so much?”-Tubbo after Tommy screamed Library at his phone in a crowded place and is being pushed into the ground by Jack.

Appearance: A giant Archive/Library that spirals into the skies. It has mythological themes and aesthetic but the enemies seem to lean towards Angels and Demons then mythological creatures. The only way to enter the library is by opening the gates, which manifest as someone knowing one of Karl’s secrets and thus having access to his truth. There are many children's books laying around the floors that clash against the scientific and clinical thick books lining the shelves. These children books explain how Karl become ruthless towards those that lie, highlighting moments as he grew up that people used his kindness as a way to hurt him. The final book shows that Karl saw Jack get credit for one of Karl’s captures, and Karl pushing Jack down the stairs before fleeing the scene. Jack leaves before Tommy turns the last page, which showcases’ this being one of Karl’s biggest regrets after getting to know Jack. Karl doesn't regret hurting Jack, and the book even suggests that Karl is okay with it because if he hadn't hurt Jack then he wouldn't have known him at all. But he still feels guilty over lying to Jack about it. 

Sidenote: Karl cares about Jack, and regrets lying to him. But his distortion makes his thinking very black and white, lying bad and truth good. As such, he believes it was his right to get even with Jack after Jack took credit for something Karl did. However, after Karl’s palace disappears he starts crying and admits what happened to Jack. Trying to express his sorrow over the event and apologizing for hurting him. Karl’s shadow is an Archivist that can not be harmed until you catch him in a lie. Also, none of the thieves can lie in the palace, leading to some very awkward conversations between everyone. After stealing Karl’s treasure, he will drop the investigation on Tommy and Co and will become their spy on the inside of the police department. Jack keeps doing his PI work but now he gets full credit for all his evidence and cases while working side by side with Karl. 

After the Phantom Thieves resign/Tommy leaves to go to his hometown, Karl quits his job and starts working at the local library while taking classes to become an archivist after Tommy talks him into following his dreams. Jack doesn’t stop being a PI but he keeps a close eye on Karl and his husbands when he’s in the area. (years into the future, when the trio get a kid, Jack is introduced as Uncle Jack to their child and he cries)

Makoto/Fifth thief: Puffy, a third year student who is very protective of the younger students. She was suspended when Tommy first joined the school and didn’t come back until after Wilbur’s treasure was stolen. It is noted by fellow students that if you bring her a problem, she will try her best to fix it for you. Because she was suspended, she is no longer the student council president. Is respected by the teachers and the phantom thieves, her most recent problem has to do with a gang called “The Red Plague” that has been trying to force students into the gang. 

Third Boss/Third Palace Holder: The Red Plague gang’s three leaders, Bad B Halo, Ant Frost, and Skeppy. Mid level bosses include Hannah and Ponk. Bad B Halo is the father of Sapnap, and the maybe romantic might be platonic husband of Skeppy Halo. No one is sure if they are actually in love romantically, but they are married and love each other very much. Ant Frost is their friend who helped found the gang. All three of them made the gang when they were younger and the motives behind it are unknown, but the recent extremes the have gone to show that they aren’t messing around anymore. There are rumors of them carrying out assassinations, break ins, and GTA. Some people even think they steal and sell organs on the black market. No one is sure if this is true though. All in all, this gang is very mysterious and has the reputation to back it up.

The Third Palace: The Storge Banquet

Keywords: The Red Plague, Badlands, Storge

Appearance: Its the Red Banquet but like, 15 layered cake version. I dont know what you want me to say. Ponk and Hannah are bosses you have to defeat (not being actual Palace owners and safe to defeat), and that will grant you access to further into the banquet. The final boss is basically Cerberus but the heads are the three leaders of the gang. To get into the Palace you must be a member, which is where Puffy comes in. She joins the gang so that the Phantom Thieves aren’t put into danger, and then is allowed into the Palace. 

Sidenotes: The gang was originally made because Bad and Skeppy thought it would be nice to protect fellow kids during rough times, making a safe haven for people who are running for any sort of reason. Ant was one of those individuals, and soon became a fellow leader to bring help to others. The gang was soon pushed into the ground by other gangs and teh police, which is why the started fighting back. Eventually, it was a slow slide into being an actual gang that runs on the idea that “We’re family, and family is everything”. After their treasure was stolen, they disbanded the gang and made an organization to protect abused children and made homeless shelters as well. Karl was originally heading an investigation against them, but stopped after they disbanded. He helps them out from time to time as an act of good will. Sapnap also helps around the organization is much happier these days. (Sapnap is the reason the origins of the Gang was found out by the Phantom Thieves, and as such, is a major character in how the Phantom Thieves react to Bad, Skeppy, and Ant’s reasons for what they did)

By the time Tommy leaves L’manberg, the new organization (the Frosty Halo Organization) is in full swing and Bad and Skeepy are planning on going on a trip to help out children elsewhere. Ant plans on staying behind because he met someone named Velvet, and someone has to keep on eye on HQ while BBH and Skeppy are away.  

#Dsmp #dream smp #mcyt #Persona SMP tag #Jack manifold #Karl Jacobs #Badboyhalo #Antfrost #Ant Frost #Skeppy #Captain Puffy #This is part two and as you can see I HAVE THOUGHTS AND LOTS OF THEM #Do i consider Karl a villain in teh dsmp? no. Will that stop me from discussing the implications of Karl's Timetraveling #and how neutral he is to eveyrthing?? No. #Anyway hes one of the palace holders because i almost started crying trying to figure out who would be the second one because no one fit #SO KARL IS ONE OF THE PALACE HOLDERS #Also most of the palace holders get a good end because i believe that people should be allowed to try to be better #and prison doesnt allow for me to make jokes about Tommy being friends with Ex-gang members and other people who are questionable #Tommy got accused of being a dick and went?? ''OH?? YOU ACCUSE ME?? OF EVIL?? THERAPY!! THERAPY FOR ALL EVIL PEOPL!!!'' #and then became the confidant for alot of the palace owners

[jackdawyt]

Well, punch me in the teeth and call me the Dread Wolf! BioWare have already revealed another trailer for the next Dragon Age this year! The Game Awards 2020 premiered a beautiful-cinematic trailer that showcased many locations, factions, characters and foes we’ll witness in the next instalment. As per usual, we have many thoughts, theories and tinfoils on everything this trailer revealed!

However, before we break down the trailer, we have two descriptions of the next Dragon Age game shared separately on YouTube and Twitter.  

On YouTube, the trailer’s description said:  

“The world of Dragon Age needs a new hero – someone who can take on the evil forces threatening Thedas. Get a first look at some of the new locations you’ll discover and the factions fighting by your side in the next chapter of Dragon Age.”  

And shared on Twitter, the post said:  

“The world of Thedas needs you, a new hero. The next #DragonAge will see the return of Solas… and an old friend.”  

https://twitter.com/dragonage/status/1337198092957839365

Of course, the old friend no doubt refers to Varric who narrated this brand-new cinematic trailer. That’s right, the one, the only, our storytelling-chest-haired dwarf is coming back in the next Dragon Age, so we’re already going to have some familiarity in the next adventure.

With that said, let’s breakdown the entire contents of this new trailer and what it means for the next Dragon Age!

Meredith & Corypheus

The trailer started by revealing the first piece of a brand-new stone-etched mural.  

Knight-Commander Meredith was shown, infused with red lyrium, holding her sword “Certainty”.

Followed up with Corypheus holding Solas’s orb towards the heavens. During this point, Varric said: “I’ve faced tyrants and would-be gods.”  

These two shots clearly showcase the previous events of Dragon Age that have somehow circulated towards Solas’s scheme to destroy the Veil and deal with the Evanuris.  

Meredith took the Red Lyrium Idol and forged it into a sword, the idol itself apparently belongs to Solas, and he cares for it and recognises its depiction. Meredith was turned into a thawed red lyrium statue, and the red lyrium idol was found and retrieved inside her statued body. The idol’s current whereabouts are unknown.

"The Dread Wolf wants that idol, and he’s not afraid to get his hands bloody to get it." (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 490). “He intends something for the Fade, and if he wants the idol, then whatever he intends will be terrible.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 498).

Whereas Corypheus intended on using Solas’s orb to usurp the throne of the gods for himself. Solas, banking on the magister’s failure, sought out to regain his orb after Corypheus unlocked it, and died doing so. In this ideal situation, Solas would then use his orb and destroy the veil.  

However, that didn’t happen. Instead Solas’s orb was destroyed by crumbling rocks with Corypheus’s defeat. The elven god strives to find alternative ways to destroy the veil.

Both these foes at the start of Solas’s new mural show that what’s coming next will be much worse than any catastrophe in Thedas and that these events have always been set in stone for the Dread Wolf. It’s like he’s drawn Corypheus and said, you thought he was tough, wait till you see what I can do.  

Two Evil Gods

The trailer continued with the next pieces in this mural, two carvings of very enigmatic figures. The first engraving has an arched headpiece, red eyes, a spiky torso, and wavy lines coming from their head, with a haloed sun or moon behind them.

Immediately, this spooky figure reminds us of the evil god shown in BioWare’s Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development. However, we believe the figure shown in this book resembles the elven goddess “Ghilan'nain, the Mother of the Halla” who created giants, monsters, and beasts that spanned across the sky, water, and earth.

While this depiction of an evil god is concept art, there is one key difference between the two figures - the evil god in the concept art has four arms, whereas the mural figure has two arms. So, are they depicting the same god? We’ll certainly come back to this figure later on.  

The next figure has a very curved headpiece, elven ears, and clawed-looking shoulder pieces. With another haloed sun behind their head, this leads us to believe this is yet another evil god.

Personally, this figure reminds us of Dirthamen’s statue we saw in Inquisition, but this could honestly be anyone... And we’ll touch on that when we get to the finished mural.  

While these two figures are shown, Varric said: “Seen friends lose life and limb, but there’s always someone bent on breaking the world.”  

Obviously referring to allies previously lost, like potentially Hawke, and even the Inquisitor’s anchor. However, the enemies bent on breaking the world paint the figures shown as evil and malevolent. Of course, it’s not Dragon Age without someone trying to destroy the world.    

BioWare Logo

In the next sequence, a golden BioWare logo appears with a sun behind it, perhaps this relates the previous figure to Elgar’nan considering Elgar’nan was said to be born of the sun?

Anderfels/Grey Warden

Taking our minds away from the mural for a moment, the trailer began to explore iconic locations and factions that are going to feature heavily in the next Dragon Age.

The first location is a blazing desert with rough sands, cobblestone, and huge puddles. We think this is the Anderfels, Thedas’s blighted western lands. Over the horizon are multiple, huge reptile creatures. They look like turtle monsters similar to the Ankylosaurs, which is a kind of armoured dinosaur with a clubtail.

During this sequence, Varric said: “It’s time for a new hero.” As grey boots entered the shot. No doubt, referring to the next protagonist. The boots are instantly recognisable as a Grey Warden’s. You can see a dark blue tint on their leggings, as grey and blue are the Warden’s colours.  

Not to mention, the biggest indicator that this character is a Warden, is the location. A Grey Warden being in The Anderfels makes complete sense considering Weisshaupt, the Warden’s headquarters are located there.

More importantly, the fact that Varric said: “it’s time for a new hero” while showing this Grey Warden, and the trailer continued to show different factions, while still talking about the idea of a new hero. We think this indicates to the overall message of this trailer, being that perhaps this time around we can choose the faction our new hero belongs to. Like origin stories, our hero can choose between at least 4 or more different factions within Thedas.

While the Grey Wardens and many other factions will join our fight as key roles in the story like “Davrin” who was hinted at in the Gamescom trailer, having the choice to choose where your hero is from would make for an epic RPG, and a great callback to the series' roots.

Antiva/Antivan Crow

The next location revealed the most elegant nation of Antiva, looking absolutely stunning with its gold accents, and regal aesthetic. When compared to the Behind-the-Scenes concepts, we can certainly see the similarities between the early concepts and the CGI reveal. Most notably, the Disney-like palace that encompasses every shot.

Still sharing about our new hero, Varic said: “No magic hand, no ancient prophecy.” As a zoom-in shot of Antiva City revealed an Antivan Crow stirring a goblet of wine. The palace behind the goblet had magical energy emerging into the skies.

The shot pulled back, and revealed an Antivan Crow sat on the rooftops of Antiva, looking over the city. With Varric talking about the next hero being a nobody, with no magical anchor, and no ancient prophecy, can we choose to play as an Antivan Crow?

If this Crow is not showcasing the option of a new hero, then perhaps this is a Crow who will join our journey, like one of the Antivan Crow Talons. I see a lot of similarities with this cinematic shot and the recent short story - “The Wake,” which was all about the Talons mourning their lost friend.

Antiva as a whole, looks astonishing, from the rivers flowing through the city, to the picturesque sky, the city looks like a delightful place to take a love interest. However, we’re most curious about the magical energy emerging from the palace. Perhaps Antiva City prepares for the imminent Qunari Antaam invasion?

Tevinter Imperium/Siccari

The next location revealed the most prideful, gothic nation known as the Tevinter Imperium. This beautifully macabre shot is most likely showcasing Tevinter’s capital city, Minrathous.  

Once the motherland of the ancient elves before the veil’s creation, Tevinter was founded on the ruins of the elven kingdom, we can see many magical marvels and wonders in this cinematic shot. For instance, we have magical neon lighting guiding you through the city and the floating structure that stands in the centre.  

Perhaps this haunting structure is the Magisterium, or Minrathous’s Circle Tower? Regardless, the ferocious architecture and dark themes truly define Tevinter as a remarkable, and otherworldly nation. A lot of these undertones look similar to one of the concept art pieces shown at Gamescom.

Followed with this shot, Varric said: “The kind of person they will never see coming.” As a new hooded-character was revealed pulling out a winged-dagger ready to attack a blurred figure in a Tevinter alleyway. Not to sound like a broken record, but again, Varric is mentioning the new hero, so is this character one of the potential factions we can choose, and if so, what faction?

Well, because it seems like we’re in the streets of Tevinter, we think this character represents the Tevinter Siccari. This faction was recently introduced in Tevinter Nights, they are the Imperium’s best shadow network, made of highly skilled and secretive agents who each come from slave families, they are formidable and honourable warriors.  

“I have heard many things of the Tevinter Siccari,” the Mortalitasi added, “but I have never heard them called cowards or traitors. Most of them come from slave families, and those families are kept safe as both promise and threat, ensuring the Siccari never flinch from their duties. (The Dread Wolf Take You, page 503). ““Tevinter’s intelligence network declined to answer our request.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, page 485).

This hooded-figure has what-looks like keys on their chest, along with a very golden logo on their shoulder, which looks like an owl? The dagger also looks to have a winged bird on its helm.

If this figure doesn’t represent a faction the player can choose between, then perhaps they’re a shadowy Tevinter character from an unknown faction, or they could be someone like Neve, who was introduced in Tevinter Nights as a private investigator working out of Minrathous. However, we feel like Tevinter Siccari is the best bet, because they’re literally the Imperium’s spies.

Executor/Ancient Elf?

Followed by that, a most intriguing character appeared walking through a snowy forest. The figure has a three-horned headpiece, with trims of red on their outfit, holding a bow made of floating triangles.

The location of this area is the exact same as the sexy tree we witnessed at EA Play, the gloomy, midnight snow graveyard, with infected red lyrium and Ferelden architecture. The tree appeared on the right, as this mysterious character shot their enigmatic bow. With the location being the same as the tree, it can be anywhere close to the equator where it can snow, like southern Tevinter, northern Nevarra, or it could literally be anywhere in the mountains. The Ferelden architecture really throws us off though.

This new character is also a mystery, who exactly are they, and what faction do they represent? Well, we've never seen anyone like this before, so they could totally be something brand-new.

However, we can piece a few things together, like the magical, triangle bow. We saw this exact design in a concept piece at Gamescom, with many thinking that this design was ancient elven. On top of that, in the “Ruins of Reality” short story art piece that featured the Starkhaven elf known as Strife, he wore a red cloak with floating triangles on it.

However, even more intriguing, his cloak had the Executor’s logo on it - “a downward-pointed triangle with two wavy lines drawn through it.”

So, does this new character represent either The Executors, or an ancient elven clan? The Executors are mysterious beings who come from beyond the sea, they’ve been described to wear “dark robes of Vyrantium samite, with a thin mesh dropping down to cover the hood.”

I see a gold trim covering their face, but I don’t know if that headpiece constitutes as a hood? Even so, we don’t know what Executors look like.  

If this character represents an ancient elven clan faction, that would explain why they have this magical bow that fires as if projected with Fade magic, also illustrating the more alien look to this character.

Regardless, we think this character is quite the enigma, they could just as easily represent a Tal-Vashoth clan, a new Nevarran faction, or something brand-new that hasn’t been explored in the games yet.

Varric Tethras

During this entire sequence, Varric said: “We’ve got your back, I’ve got your back.” By, “we’ve got your back” we assume he’s speaking on behalf of the Inquisition’s remnants like the Divine, Scout Harding, Charter and company, who’re pursuing after the Dread Wolf. However, even more than that, Varric said, he’s got our back. So, Varric is coming back in the next game as a pivotal role it seems, hopefully, this time around we can romance our chest-haired friend, please?

Fen’Harel

Varric followed that up and said: “Demons, dragons, darkspawn, even the Dread Wolf.” As the next sequence revealed a very familiar Fen’Harel...

Solas is pressing one of his hands on this fresco that depicts him as the Dread Wolf rising. He’s touching the mouth of the Dread Wolf, as the beast’s teeth appear red, most likely to resemble red lyrium? Does Solas’s plan involve ingesting red lyrium? The substance does weaken the veil after all, so is Solas going to become blighted in order to fulfill his scheme?  

As Solas approached, we can see he has clothed himself in ancient elven robe-like armour with varying tints of green. He looks very stoic, but also a little bit sad.

New Mural

The cinematic mural that featured behind Solas was posted as a painting on the Dragon Age website, so we can take a greater look at it, and decipher its meaning.

https://twitter.com/Nthornborrow/status/1337521623084093440

Straight up, we can see the Dread Wolf with six blazing blue eyes, previously the Dread Wolf was depicted with red blazing eyes, however, this time around, his eyes are blue? This clearly has something to do with lyrium Maybe the Dread Wolf’s eyes will turn red once he has become tainted? Or Perhaps there’s a chance we could stop him from becoming tainted before it’s too late?

As stated, the Dread Wolf has six eyes, exactly like his description in Tevinter Nights. A Mortalitasi mage witnessing the Dread Wolf explained the description of a lupine, monstrous six-eyed Wolf the size of a High Dragon.

“Lupine in appearance, but the size of a high dragon, with shaggy spiked hide and six burning eyes like a pride demon.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 496).

With the proportion of his eyes, there could be some significance to them, or it could honestly just be an art style. However, I wouldn’t deny anything relating to Old God souls or the amount of Evanuris left. But we feel the size of each eye shows us that the Dread Wolf is dealing with some sort of distortion with his appearance, like absorbing Mythal’s power metamorphosing him to become more draconic.

The Dread Wolf is bursting through the Black City which is imbued in red lyrium.

We can see the Dread Wolf has destroyed the Veil by the representation of the spheres that have exploded with a roaring fire. With its destruction, the Fade and the waking world of Thedas have become one. With the world burning in the raw chaos, Solas could then restore the time of the elves.

Two Evil Gods Identity  

These statues are old. Better shape than anything I've seen on the surface. Many of them are for Mythal, though. And Fen'Harel. Not in a spot of honor, but guarding, attending.

Protector and All-Mother, why are you honored here, so far from the light of the sun? And why was the Dread Wolf at your side? — Torn Notebook in the Deep Roads

The two evil figures on the left and right side look like the eluvians and statues from the Vir Dirthara, the ancient elvhen Library. And according to Tevinter Nights, there are many elvhen libraries throughout the land of Thedas like the one near the Imperial Highway. These ‘headpieces’ the figures have are slightly different and differentiate each member of the Pantheon from one another.

it’s honestly hard to tell who these figures could be Pantheon-wise, but here are some of our tinfoil bits that can correlate to their appearance:

When we reacted to this trailer live, we stated that these two figures could resemble the elvhen twins Falon’Din and Dirthamen. Their statues look very similar to these figures, but now that we have studied it, the figure on the left looks more feminine with long hair so this could be Ghilan’nain who has been mentioned a lot recently in the Dragon Age’s short stories and Tevinter Nights. If that figure on the left is Ghilan’nan, then the right still has to be Dirthamen who we know has a closer relationship with Ghilan’nain through Dalish and ancient elvhen legends.

"His crime is high treason. He took on a form reserved for the gods and their chosen, and dared to fly in the shape of the divine. The sinner belongs to Dirthamen; he claims he took wings at the urging of Ghilan'nain, and begs protection from Mythal. She does not show him favor, and will let Elgar'nan judge him." — Old Elvhen Writing

On the other hand, these figures could represent Elgar’nan and Mythal, who are closely related to Fen’Harel’s redemption to break the Veil.

“Long ago, when time itself was young, the only things in existence were the sun and the land. The sun, curious about the land, bowed his head close to her body, and Elgar'nan was born in the place where they touched.” — Codex entry: Elgar'nan: God of Vengeance.

“And that night, when the sun had gone to sleep, Mythal gathered the glowing earth around his bed, and formed it into a sphere to be placed in the sky, a pale reflection of the sun's true glory.” — Codex entry: Mythal: the Great Protector.

We could say that the masculine figure represents Elgar’nan who is represented as a sun. And Mythal, who represents the moon. If these two gods are side by side with Fen’Harel, then the Emergent Compendium’s reference could come true:

‘Two shadowed spheres among stars, an eclipse as Fen’Harel stirred’  

However, this could be a stretch knowing that Solas already has the remaining power of Flemeth, and Elgar’nan also has barely been mentioned, it is worth knowing that these figures have a similar reference to these gods either way...

Another connection these figures could resemble are the remaining old gods that bring forth the blights.  

In our Dread Wolf Rises mural breakdown back in 2018, we talked about the centrepiece of the artwork, with the massive moon that had two golden circles still lit, while 5 of them were greyed out. Most certainly referring to the past and future blights.  

In our new mural, behind these two figures there are the same golden circles. If we are comparing these two murals together these figures could be the two remaining Old Gods left who aren’t blighted, Razikale and Lusacan.

According to Solas, if there is any chaotic event in Thedas, spirits will pull against the Veil, weakening its forces. So, if Razikale and Lusacan were to become Archdemons at the same time, that could potentially tear the Veil hence the Dread Wolf rising in the moment to change the world once again.

Razikale is the only Old God to be confirmed female, so according to the mural, this theory might not be far off from this depiction. These Gods have not been tainted and have been left somewhere sleeping for centuries, to awaken them will require most of Thedas to become blighted in order to escalate the timing of two Blights happening at once.  

However, that’s just a theory, as we know, evil gods have Thedas in their sights, it really just depends which gods we’re talking about. We lean more to the Evanuris in this mural, however, the old gods are not out of the picture yet, as shown in The Dread Wolf Rises mural. We feel a double blight is in store for the future of Thedas.

Dragon Age New Font

Anyhow, the trailer ends with a new Dragon Age font and colour, I wonder if gold is going to be the main tone of the next game.  

Varric ended the trailer, and said: “This is your story.” No doubt referring to the fact that the narrative will be shaped by your choices and consequences.

Regardless, this trailer was amazing, and we’re so happy we actually had another look at the next Dragon Age game! We want to know all of your thoughts and speculation down below, how excited are you knowing that Varric is coming back?

#dragon age 4 #next dragon age game #next dragon age #dragon age game awards 2020 #dragon age next #The next Dragon Age #antiva #tevinter #anderfels #grey warden #tevinter siccari #Darkspawn #dragon age spy #dread wolf #mural #solas #solas next game #solas cgi

[palepinkycat]

OC Playlist

To everyone who tagged me - I swear, I didn't forget or ignore you, my life is simply a mess lol

Tagged by @mimabeann and @sleepswithvillains, thank you, I've had so much fun creating this playlist!  I'm gonna post the 2nd part soon.

This one's for - surprise, surprise - Cithar ☻ 

On behalf of Taral, I’m asking you NOT to give Cithar a radio. Leaving the Alliance was painful enough, please, don’t let him listen to sad songs.

His intro theme: Grá by Warduna!!! It IS his song! I mean, the lyrics, oh boy... I have SO MANY thoughts after reading the lyrics... I feel like this is something Cithar would like to tell Aivela and his friends/followers if he ever had a chance to speak to them one last time. It would be both a promise and an apology. So much angst in this one lol

Your song stirs something deep within

Like chords pulling straight from memory

I can’t find the words, they still remain veiled

Yet I know it is old, I know that it’s forgotten

I remember when you roamed freely

I remember when we roamed together

I remember us before our paths got separated

I remember the ring before it broke

[...]

You may run to my forests

Roam freely in my mountains

Lead your pack to my valleys

Let us restore the ring

I shall sing you safe on your way

I shall sing you safely home

His boss battle theme: Ah yes, more angst. Boss battle, huh? You mean him fighting a boss or him being the boss, huh? Anyways, Pride by Manchester Orchestra toatally suits both options.

Finally I felt the calming breeze

Stepping out to watch the final scene

After all it's you, my pride, and me

I can't speak whatever I can speak

You see

Now I found the way to meet the means

Faker face to make the kingdom clean

After all it's me, and the king, and the beast

Whatever whatever I can't speak

A thing

His love song: So I guess I should find two songs - one for him and Aivela and the second for him and Mara. Sooo Sarah by Alex G for Cithar x Mara where Sarah = Mara?

I can't be

What you need

I am stuck in a dream

[...]

Every day

I'll make promises that plague

Sarah's heart

So I can watch her fall apart

'Cause I know

When I break her down

We'll spit on all the happy clowns

That live around this sunny town

She loves me like a dog

And when we mess around

I'll let her know the truth I found

In my own hopeless hate

And every time I wake

I second guess the game I played

Did I make a mistake?

Yes, you did ☻

And for Cithar x Aivela - I was specifically looking for a song with some ballad/medieval mood when I came across The Song of Seven Sorrows from the Kingkiller Chronicles. Now, I've never read the book so I don't really know the lore but no other song from my playlist depicts their story so well. Assuming Lyra = Aivela, Lanre = Cithar, Selitos = Izax - or basically the whole Pantheon, they all hate him lol - and Myr Tariniel = Medriaas/Nathema

Our hero of songs and stories untold

He fought not for glory, nor silver nor gold

He killed for the hands that held his heart

For Lyra, who loved him till death did them part

[...]

But Death is a tyrant who won't be denied

Lyra she faded, she paled and she died

Her fate left unknown to we who remain

Its consequence etched in misery and pain

Unable to die, to forget or to sleep

Lanre was driven to madness and grief

Myr Tariniel burned by his hand

A mercy to the people of that wretched land

Selitos roared and he clawed at his eyes

Frenzied by pride, he cursed the skies:

"Lanre you traitor, cursed be thy name,

May you live always in the shadow and shame!"

Our hero of songs and stories untold

Now wanders these roads, alone in the cold

He dreams of the hands that held his heart

Of Lyra, who loved him till death did them part

Sorry for all my calculations 🤠

His sad times song: Oh, the sad times. Who Killed Mr. Moonlight by Bauhaus

A broken arrow in a bloody pool

The wound in the face

Of midnight proposals

Someone shot nostalgia in the back

Someone shot our innocence

In the shadow of his smile

[...]

All our dreams have melted down

We are hiding in the bushes

[...]

All our stories burnt

Our films lost in the rushes

We can't paint any pictures

As the moon had all our brushes

OR Kingdom's Coming , also by Bauhaus

Madness in the wind's got something to say

It ripped you apart

It will always be that way

It said kingdom's coming, causes chaos

Will cut to pieces the film you saw today

It's your big bad secret

Your crown of thorns

Can't take it easy, you can't turn back

The sky will open soon, could be today­

Forget your bastard ego, get it off your back

[...]

You want it all, but it's on the run

A song that reminds him of a better time: Times with Aivela, huh? 👀

The Stable Song by Gregory Alan Isakov

Remember when our songs were just like prayers

Like gospel hymns that you caught in the air?

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Unto my simple house and ring

And ring

Also, I just couldn't skip that part, it's soooo fitting

Now I've been crazy couldn't you tell

I threw stones at the stars, but the whole sky fell

He should get it tattooed on his stupid forehead so that in the future, everyone will be able to tell.

A song that calms him down: Y'all probably noticed but it really bothers me that the OLD Republic era is basically the same as the prequel/sequel era 626271182772 years later. So I pretty much headacanon it to be more of a Star Wars middle ages, like a mix of Vikings, LOTR and Game of Thrones lol Besides, Cithar is a character from my Dragon Age/Star Wars crossover soo if we're not talking about lyrics that describe him but instead about songs he'd actually listen to, I think it'd be some traditional Sith music he'd stumble upon while wandering among the common folk on Medriaas. Something that reminds him of home. As much as he hated its corruption, there were many things he loved. I imagine it would sound similiar to Sacrifice by Sharon Lyons.

A song that gets him hyped up: What's a better song to start a rebellion to than Svanrand by Heilung???

*No lyrics this time since it's just a list of names of valkyries, but imagine ancient sith reciting the names of their gods before entering a battle??? 👀*

A song that fits his aesthetic: Music that fits his aesthetic - Postaci by Dzivia

And lyrics that fit his aesthetic - The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel

In restless dreams I walked alone

Narrow streets of cobblestone

'Neath the halo of a street lamp

I turned my collar to the cold and damp

When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light

That split the night

And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more

People talking without speaking

People hearing without listening

People writing songs that voices never share

And no one dared

Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools, " said I, "You do not know

Silence, like a cancer, grows

Hear my words that I might teach you

Take my arms that I might reach you"

But my words, like silent raindrops fell

And echoed in the wells, of silence

His own favorite song: The same as the one that calms him down.

The song that plays at his funeral: Would there even be one? Helvegen by Warduna

Who will sing me

Into the death-sleep sling me

When I walk the road to Hel

And the tracks I tread

Are cold, so cold

[...]

You will be free from the bonds that bind you

You are free from the bonds that bound you

#that one bauhaus song is like #forget your bastard ego get it off your back #and cithar's just #NO. #i just noticed #i always roast cithar? #even when i try to create a basic playlist #i love him to pieces but i also love making fun of him #i cant help it #i've skipped a few promts tho #was super confused lol sorry! #oc:cithar #swtor #oc playlist #Sith Pureblood #zakuul #aivela #SWTOR OC #my art

[rainofaugustsith]

Memory of Healing

Also at Ao3! 

Content warning; this fic has references to bruises, cuts, injuries and needles, including self-injury.

The scars and burns are rare…but they happen. Viri is almost never injured directly by her opponents; they usually can’t even catch her. It takes far more cosmic effort to harm her: caves falling on her head. Ancient spirits with nefarious intentions. Force alchemy. Cursed fire. She’s learned to deflect them all, but every now and then, she gets nicked. And when she is, she and Lana can usually heal the nicks themselves. They’re that tightly bound now. It’s just that every now and then, there’s an anomaly they can’t channel away. No big deal. Viri sits casually on the couch in the Alliance’s wound clinic, one ankle crossed neatly over the other. The chrono reads 2:42; these trips always seem to happen in the middle of the night when the base is still and quiet and nobody else is in the medical center. It’s better that way; better that Viri is not seen in the medical center by the daytime Alliance staff. It tends to make them nervous. ”We’re ready for you, Commander.” The aesthetic surgeon droid comes to the door, her metallic voice echoing through the nearly empty room. Viri nods and rises from the couch; Lana follows.

Lana knows the routine; she’s seen it several times now. She extends one hand to take Viri’s clothing from her as she strips out of her boots, socks and trousers and hops onto the examining table. The scar on Viri’s thigh, an artifact from a vicious fight in the Gree Enclave, screams out at her, red and furious. 

”Take this away, please,” Viri says, gesturing to her thigh as she reclines on the table.   ”Yes, Commander,” the droid says, gathering her tools. “Anesthetic?” ”Yes, please.” Viri always asks to be numbed. Lana understands; there’s no reason to feel the work when she’s already felt so much. Lana drapes Viri’s clothes over one arm and extends the other, offering Viri a hand to hold. As always, Viri grabs it, threading her fingers through Lana’s and leaning into their bond and love. The droid leans over Viri, blocking Lana’s view of the scar. It’s better that way Academically, Lana knows the droid is there to help; emotionally, the moment she sees the needle piercing Viri’s skin she has an urge to rise and cut the miserable thing to scrap for hurting her wife. Protective rage bubbles through the bond and Viri locks eyes with Lana as she senses it, keeping both of them focused elsewhere. ”Jokes?” This is another part of the ritual; Lana will offer Viri a means of distraction. Jokes. Ridiculous anecdotes from their Sith years. A cynical review of the latest reality show on the HoloNet. Viri’s eyes flick down toward the droid at work, and then quickly up to the ceiling again. Her leg jerks slightly, a flicker of pain coursing through her even through the anesthetic. ”Apologies, Commander. You have had another repair here before, and I encountered subcutaneous scar tissue.” ”It’s fine,” Viri sighs. The repairs are layered on each other, but she forgets.

“How many of these have you erased? I’m just curious.” Viri’s lips curve slightly, but the smile does not reach her eyes. “I’ve lost count.”

“The memory stays as an echo, you know,” Lana says. “Your body still remembers.” 

”You were reading <I>Essence of Spirit</I> again this morning,” Viri laughs. ”I was. It’s intriguing. And I think it has a point. The pain becomes a part of you.” We already know that, Viri says, shrugging. It’s true; Lana has come to recognize the background level of pain always present in Viri through their bond. ”Still,” Lana says, raising an eyebrow. “They were referring to more.” ”Could you read me?” Viri says, amused. ”I could try,” Lana says, suddenly curious. ”May I?” Viri shrugs. “Of course. But why? I was joking..” ”It would be an interesting experiment,” Lana says. ”Feel free to look. You know I hide nothing from you.”  

Lana closes her eyes, taps into the Force, and sweeps her hand over Viri’s right arm. The Mark of Union on Viri’s hand glows purple in her mind; welcoming and secure. However, beneath it, several scars emerge. Calluses and rips on the palm. Surgical incisions on the wrist. Bruises shaped like hands. 

”I broke my wrists when I was twelve,” Viri murmurs, seeing along with her. “You know why. They had to be set. The other bruises…you know why those are there, too.”   Lana nods grimly as she continues to read. Precise slashes across Viri’s inner forearm come into view in her mind’s eye. ”You cut yourself,” Lana mutters, surprised. ”Correct. It helped for a while. Or I thought it did. Upper Academy.” ”I see.” Burns from Manaan and Iokath. Scars from the cave-in on Quesh. Bites from a carnivorous plant. Bruises from the shackles placed on Viri when she was captured by the Eternal Empire, haloed by an echo of terror. Layers of pain. Muscle aches that lingered for weeks. Lana winces. ”You’re on my lightsaber arm, what did you expect?” Viri chuckles. “Of course it’s sore.” ”I didn’t realize…” But I should have. I feel how much you hurt. I just didn’t realize it had been going on for so long. What I do is not without cost. Viri looks straight ahead. I don’t pay attention to it, lover. You know that. Do you remember the last time you were without pain of any kind? Lana asks seriously, catching her eyes. The last time you kissed me. Our bond tends to make it fade. Viri smiles, and Lana feels her heart swell. …you’re evading the question. When was the last time you were without any pain at all, without my help? Lana presses. I don’t remember. Oh love.  I use it. I channel it. I do the best I can. You know that. Love. Lana squeezes her hand again, sending a wave of Force healing around her. Viri closes her eyes again to drink it in; her head tipping back against the table. The aesthetic surgeon droid sits back. Where a jagged scar had crossed Viri’s thigh, there is now shiny, unbroken skin. “I’m done with your leg, Commander. I’ll leave you to get dressed.” ”Thank you. Commander override: wipe memory from 02:30 to present.” Viri repeats a series of complex passcodes. The lights on the medical droid’s chassis blink as her memory wipes. “Hello Commander. Is there anything I can do for you?” ”No thank you. Please return to your duties.” ”As you wish,” the droid leaves the room. Feeling better? Lana asks, watching appreciatively as Viri dresses. Yes. Enjoying the view? Viri winks, wiggling her hips as she pulls on her trousers. I always do, Lana laughs, but a moment later, her smile fades. Viri…you know you don’t have to get these scars removed.  I know, Viri shrugs, buttoning her trousers. I want to. I don’t need the souvenirs. I only keep the…most important. And the ones that aren’t bad. Aren’t bad? Lana raises an eyebrow. How…  ”Read here,” Viri whispers, taking Lana’s hand and putting it on her face. Lana’s fingers trace the long ragged scar that crosses her cheek, concentrating. Love spills from the scar; the care and attention of a mother’s fingers, suturing her injured daughter’s face. As Lana concentrates she can hear Viri’s mother in her mind: Hold still, baby. Just focus on my voice. “She sang the whole time,” Viri murmurs, leaning into Lana’s touch. “I see why you kept this one.” ”Try here,” Viri says, repositioning Lana’s hand on her bicep. Lana sees the intricate script of the Sith protection incantation on Viri’s tattoo through her fingers; feels Force energy pulsing from the ink. In her mind’s eye, Viri is reassuring herself: This will protect me. 

Lana opens her eyes. “I’d like to read the rest of you. This has been…fascinating. Not here. But later.” Viri nods, her eyes full of trust. “Only if I get a turn.” ”Of course.”

“Preview now?” Viri asks, her eyes glowing. She grasps Lana’s left hand in her own and concentrates until her eyes flutter shut. 

Pain in the hand. Explosions; shattering. Bones and skin sutured and bandaged. Viri shudders. ”I explained that,” Lana murmurs, picking up on Viri’s consternation. “A walker missile hit me.” Viri nuzzles Lana’s hand as she reads further. Aches from Hoth. Klor’slug bites from Korriban. Needle-sharp teeth piercing skin. A broken finger. A second. ”That one was just a speeder accident. I was learning to pilot and I fell,” Lana explains. Viri kisses her palm, infusing it with Force healing. ”Love, it’s healed, it doesn’t need help now.” Viri shakes her head, letting more healing radiate through the hand as she holds it to her cheek. “Nobody hurts my Lana.” ”Sweet Viri,” Lana murmurs, letting her fingers curl around Viri’s chin. ”Commander? Is there something you need assistance with? What brings you to the clinic today?” The droid reappears at the door. Viri sighs in frustration. “No, you don’t even see us. We’re not in the clinic. Commander override: wipe memory from 0300 to present.” Let’s go. Otherwise we’re going to have to keep purging her memory. Lana tugs on her sleeve. Viri nods and follows her out of the room. As they exit the clinic they wave their hands toward the security cameras, erasing the few seconds where they were visible in the lobby. Viri and Lana walk back to their suite in silence. With her leg healed, Viri’s gait is fluid again; her long legs easily carrying her along. She raises her head to breathe in the night air, her curly hair whipping around her face in the nocturnal breeze. ”Still numb?” Lana taps into their bond, finding a suspiciously pain free spot on Viri’s leg. ”Mhmmm,” Viri mumbles. “It’s strange.”

Strange to be without pain. Sadness pricks through the bond.

”Don’t,” Viri says, entering the first and second sets of codes at the deceptively simple keypad at their front door. “You know how it is.” ”I’ve accepted that our line of work has drawbacks. I still wish it didn’t,” Lana replies, taking Viri’s hand again. I wasn’t kidding. I really do hurt less with you around. Viri’s face is turned; her body still as the biometric security system scans her. Lana closes her eyes as the scanner sweeps across her too, and the door opens slightly to allow them into the atrium. Their HK droids, 51 and 55, silently nod their greetings as Viri and Lana continue through the hallway to the next security checkpoint. More biometric scans. More passwords. All so they can sleep without someone killing them. ”Even on Dromund Kaas it would be like this,” Viri shrugs, leading Lana into their suite. They’ve become accustomed to tuning out the noise of the durasteel door closing heavily behind them. The edge of Viri’s leg, where it meets her prosthetic foot, has begun to ache, and she drops to the sofa to  channel healing around it. ”Let me,” Lana whispers, kneeling next to her. “You said I help.” ”Always,” Viri murmurs earnestly, looking into her eyes. “A kiss might do the trick.” Lana runs one finger across the top of Viri’s knee, skirting across the numb spot on her thigh. “Just a kiss?” ”I didn’t say how or where,” Viri smirks. “That leaves plenty of possibilities.” ”Brat.” ”Beloved.” Viri wraps her arms around Lana, settling her on her lap. “Kiss it better.” Lana leans in close, worrying Viri’s bottom lip with her teeth before closing her mouth on Viri’s. Salt. Sugar. Fire. Electricity. Lana hums into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Viri as her pain drops away.

***

#Lana and Viri #Viridana Dragoi #fanfic #fanfiction #Viri is not okay and that's okay

[kaesaaurelia]

here’s your shining sword and spear

For @whumptober2020 day 19: "Broken Hearts” (and incorporating all three suggested themes, “grief,” “mourning loved one,” and “survivor’s guilt”)

Allusion to Satan/Crowley, brief mention of an ill-fated OC / OC pairing, and an OC having a one-sided crush on Michael.

This fic has a companion piece about Crowley here that focuses more on Satan/Crowley and what Hell was like just after the war, but you don’t need to have read that to read this.

Content warning for discussion of a failed suicide attempt, and for Heaven being a toxic work environment.

"It's not too late to stay here," Vehuel said, hopefully. "I'll go for you and that way you can just do whatever you want until we get back."

"No, no, I have to go, Lucifer wants me there," said Gadreel, glowing with pride. "I'm his favorite."

Vehuel bit back a remark about this; they'd had this discussion too many times already, about how Lucifer treated his favorites, and about how Gadreel deserved better than that.  He could be as proud as he wanted of what Lucifer said to him, but Lucifer was careless and cruel, and used flattery very deliberately, and Vehuel hoped very much that he would be remade into a better version of himself after all this.  Perhaps a version with less authority over Gadreel.  A version that would grovel in apology for the deeds of his predecessor, and would never make anyone tremble with fear because they'd made a very small mistake with gravity that hadn't even been permanent, and that would also maybe stand still while Vehuel punched him.  That seemed fair; it wasn't like Vehuel could hurt him, after all.  But it would be cathartic.  "I'm sure he wouldn't want you to get hurt for his sake, then," Vehuel lied.  "Since he likes you so much."  Gadreel's wings flicked in irritation, because he knew that wasn't true, but he didn't dare call her on it.

"I'll be fine," Gadreel insisted.  "And besides, I'd love to see the look on that wanker Gabriel's face when we storm in and take Heaven. Aren't you looking forward to that?

"Yeah, I guess," she said. She did kind of want to see Gabriel's face when it turned out she'd been the one to save all of Heaven from Lucifer's poorly-thought-out plan. (Gabriel would not be there; he and all his underlings would miss the entire war for a lengthy meeting of the Human Design Team.  He would never see Vehuel as anything but a troublesome and suspicious remnant of Lucifer's forces.) "I'm just worried something bad will happen to you," she said.

"You're always worried something bad will happen to me and it never does, Vehuel, I don't know why you think I can't take care of myself," said Gadreel. Vehuel stopped herself from reminding him of the time he'd almost licked a raw singularity. She would regret that restraint later. "Besides, God told you not to worry, didn't She?"

Vehuel snorted; she knew he was being difficult for difficulty's sake.  "I thought we were disobeying Her now?" she asked, with an ironic twist of her spirals.

"I'm just saying," he said.  "Anyway, why don't you lend me some of your eyes?  Then I could see trouble coming."

If he saw trouble coming, Vehuel knew, he'd leap right into it.  "I really don't want to, sorry," she said, drawing her wings over herself nervously, to hide some of the glow of her halo.  At least Gadreel wouldn't doubt her sincerity.  He didn't know she had the mysterious thing Michael had given her, the Weapon.  It ought to have made her more confident, but it frightened her that Michael thought she'd need it.  "I'm kind of worried I won't be able to take care of myself?" she admitted.

"What?" he asked, sounding almost outraged. "No!  Why?  You're bigger and meaner than me, I need the eyes more."

"No, you're definitely meaner than me," she said.  "Remember what you did to poor Len?"  She'd been very sad about Len breaking up with her, sure, but it wasn't really his fault she was clingy and annoying and didn't love him enough.

"He deserved it," said Gadreel.  "It was justice.  It's not really meanness if it's deserved, is it?"

"I don't think anyone really deserves to be tied to a comet and left for a few million years until he's missed at the next all hands meeting," Vehuel said.

"Sure they do!  Anyway, you're still bigger than me."

"By a smidge, Gadreel, it won't matter if either of us has to fight -- I don't know, Michael or someone like that."  She prayed Gadreel would have the good sense never to fight Michael, and knew in her heart that Gadreel would never have any good sense.  "Listen, how about you stay in front and I go behind you and watch out for anyone trying to sneak up. We'll work together."  They always worked well together, even when they weren't getting along.

"Oh, fine," he said, rolling his (apparently insufficiently numerous) eyes.  "But you'd better pay attention."

"I'm not gonna let anything happen to you!" she said.

"You'd better not," he warned her.  "I won't let you forget it if you do."

"I know, that's why," she said, shoving him.  "You'll be fucking insufferable for eternity otherwise."

"I'm going to be fucking insufferable for eternity anyway," he said proudly.

Gadreel might be an idiot, but he was her idiot, and even if she was planning to betray the rest of them, she would never let anyone hurt him.  So when he'd lunged at an archangel like a nitwit as soon as they got to Heaven, she pulled out the strange, sharp Weapon that Michael had given her to deter Lucifer from hurting her.  If it could deter Lucifer from doing something cruel, of course it would be able to deter Gadreel from doing something stupid.

Michael had neglected to mention, however, that it would carve through his spirals like he was nothing but a dust cloud, cutting him nearly in half.  He looked back at her, terrified and betrayed, and then some stupid seraph knocked Vehuel out of the way to get at somebody more important, and though she looked for Gadreel the whole time, she didn't see him again.

--

Vehuel was just being released from the hospital when the Archangel Michael came to see her. This would be her third set of wings; the first had been sheared off by a comet Lucifer hadn't warned them about, and the second had burned up in a supernova she'd thrown into the middle of the battlefield. She wondered how long her third set would last.

"We've decided to give you a metal," said Michael. "For your bravery."

It hadn't been bravery. It had been pretty much the opposite of that. "Thank you," she said, curling tightly in on herself. "What... um, what does that mean exactly?"

"It's a new concept," said Michael brightly, and Vehuel couldn't understand how Michael could be so cheerful -- how everyone, really, could be so unceasingly positive. She hadn't felt a single negative emotion off of anyone while she was here, but she was miserable. No one seemed to notice, though. They kept calling her a trooper.

She didn't want to be a trooper. She wasn't sure she wanted to be anything.

But now Michael was explaining about metals, and electricity, and reflectivity. "I know what metals are. The substance. I know those," said Vehuel, who had worked with them before. She'd had to jury-rig her own out of helium, even, when she and Len been tapped to build those two gas giants. "What I mean is --"

"Oh! Oh, of course, the part about giving you one," said Michael. "It's -- well, it's sort of decorative. It's to show everyone that you're a hero. It was very brave, what you did out there with the supernova. Saved us a lot of time, and maybe lives. How did you know you'd get out?"

It had not been brave in the least, but Vehuel had lied to Lucifer, and she knew she could lie to Michael. "It was a calculated risk," she said, trying to make it sound carefree, like it had been nothing to throw an unstable white dwarf into the battlefield. She tried to make it sound like she'd known she would probably get out all right. That maybe she hadn't expected her wings to catch fire, but that the sacrifice was minor in the grand scheme of things.

She tried to make it sound like she'd been planning to get out all right in the first place, and not that she’d panicked and regretted her choice as soon as she’d made it.

"I heard I didn't get Lucifer, though," she added. "Is that true?" He was the only one she'd wanted to actually... end.  Or make different, anyway.  She didn't know if she had wanted to end anyone, really.  It hadn't occurred to her that people could stop existing.

"No, I dealt with him later," said Michael. "Don't worry, though, he's far away."

But he still exists, she thought, and as for being told not to worry, Vehuel had never obeyed that command.

"Do you want your metal now?" Michael asked.

"Um. Okay?" said Vehuel, who didn't know how this was going to go. Michael extended one of her hands, and suddenly Vehuel's whole being felt warm and strange, and she saw that in among the whorls of blue and purple that made her, there were specks of gold, like stars.

"Isn't it nice?" Michael asked brightly. "I thought the gold would go nicely with your eyes."

"Ah. It. Um. I. Guess?' said Vehuel, her halo flaring. She resisted the urge to cover herself with her wings, because it would hurt like anything, but for some reason the idea of the Archangel Michael having noticed her in an aesthetic capacity was terrifying and thrilling all at once and she didn't know what to say. What did you say to that?

But Michael was already moving on. "Rest up! We're going to need you for the rest of the stars," she said, and Vehuel was both relieved and disappointed. She wanted to talk to Gadreel about it, only he would have made fun of her. Or asked her how exactly this was any different from the way Lucifer behaved. But Lucifer had been doing it on purpose, and Michael surely wasn't, and also, she would never be able to talk to Gadreel again, because he was gone forever.

--

Vehuel went right back to work after as soon as they'd let her, because she felt like, for the very first time, her mind was empty and echoing. There was nothing for her to worry about anymore. The worst had already happened. She had made it happen.

So she drifted into the outer reaches of Earth's solar system -- also very empty, but not, thankfully, echoing -- and she filled it up with little things. On her best day, she made a weird oblong object that looked like a potato -- or, rather, several millennia later, when she first held a potato in her hand, she would think My god, this looks just like Haumea!  But at the time, she'd only thought, This looks so stupid, I love it, before giving it two tiny moons and sending it hurtling end over end on its eccentric way.

On her worst day, she tried to build a fitting memorial for Gadreel. She remembered that first conversation she'd had with him, playing with gravity and sparks; she remembered how beautiful she'd found that tiny binary star system they'd ended up making by accident, and how much care and creativity they'd put into making it out of real starstuff in real space, and she tried to make something like that out of rock and ice, but she kept adding onto them, trying to make them the same size, and eventually the bigger one was nearly as big as a real planet, and the little one kept going unstable and breaking little crumbs of itself off when she added to it, so she gave up. They would have to be close enough.

She wondered why she was here.  She couldn't imagine that humans would ever come here or see these things she was making -- they were such fragile, helpless little things that apparently a little bit of hard UV could knock them right out of commission forever.

But eventually, once she'd done all she could in the Kuiper Belt and was back in Heaven filing shitty paperwork for shitty archangels, a posting on Earth happened to open up -- well above her rank, but then again, she had the metal Michael had awarded her, and she hoped that would count for something.  So after calling in some favors with the physics office and making very sure that her halo wasn't the wrong kind of UV, she put in her application.  Maybe she could find a new thing she was for.  Maybe she could be good at protecting someone.  Even if it wasn't Gadreel.

#whumptober2020 #no.19 #broken hearts #grief #mourning loved one #survivor's guilt #good omens #oc #(kind of both???) #fiction #suicide #also sorry guys pluto was never a planet #kaesa op #disaster principality vehuel #text #michael good omens #anthony j crowley

[siren07tucker]

Time to explain things!

So with the current events of the SMP heavily differing then what are used to make the kids I kind of shifted in a little bit!

 symphony leaves home for the first time after his dad does not come home for a while he follows his compass until he sees his dad on an alter talking about some country? Before pressing a button? After a while a blonde man stabs his dad with a sword and before symphony could recover from he’s shock The blonde man starts talking to the king and a couple other people about how they were going to revive his dad? They went on to talk about Wilbur not having his memories from when he was a ghost! Symphony had Learned about life and death the differences between him and his dad and how even though he was physically dead he was still treated like someone who was alive but legally he was dead and so lost the right to adopt or have children so that’s why he needed to stay away from people. But he needed to stop this what is his dad forgot about him! When his dad came back he rushed towards him yelling that he needed to stop and that he couldn’t leave him! And everybody was confused this random Child was acting like they were killing Wilbur even though they were trying to revive him, symphony explained that to him it’s like they were killing his Wilbur because that’s his dad! 

Ghostbur tries to explain to symphony there is a possibility that he would forget him, but it’s for the greater good this world needs a leader but symphony cuts in and says I need my dad! And for a horrible moment Symphony looked a lot like fundy. Ghostbur tells everybody he can’t do it but before anybody knows Philza sword is poking out of ghostbur’s chest and symphony runs where eventually he meets an odd kid around his age?

-

So the thing is Lucy is no longer what happens after the egg instead Bad starts getting a bit depressed about Skeppy and the egg decided to kill two birds with one stone sooo it gifted him a child but he had to keep them pier? Meaning that the child must never have desires and the child was not their own person. These plans do mess up though with a certain ram duck hybrid that left home for the first time! Anyway Symphony shows The child a good time even giving them a name, Lucy! (I also like the new meaning this version of the story gives Lucy‘s name because their full name is Lucifer and Innoway they are falling from what people consider Grace)  anyway bad not happy about this and demands that symphony be killed but Symphony manages to run to church prime!  but at some point Symphony escapes and since the whole time he has been using a human form he turns into his more natural animal form to save Lucy they runoff into the nether and quickly make it back to symphonies sewer home! And after a while Lucy becomes the flirty arsonist that we all know and love!

-

I should also mention that for this version of the story dream is possessed. The Dreammon that is possessing dream more or less makes dream experience the prison by himself and dream decides to bite the bullet because he knows if or when he does get out of the prison the Dreammon Will take control again...

The only thing keeping CJ‘s true parentage? Is a magic veil that dream has been keeping up even through his possession since he didn’t want his son to be wrapped up in his business, but a couple potatoes a day  it’s not making it easy to keep the Spell working! Especially through all of the walls of obsidian Eventually dream passes out and the spell is Broken. (and little edit when dream passes out the Dreammon takes control and more or less tell Sam that he still has a pawn to play)  It’s like a cold slap to the face the next morning when Eret realized who his son looked like and he more or less put his castle on lock down because he still loves his son but he knew the others might not understand, (especially because of dreams ominous warning) eventually though Nikki gets a good look at CJ and it’s snowballs from there. Eret has never once truly considered fighting but when his friends attempt a storm his castle to take a son to prison for a crime he did not commit  he raised his sword as his child ran away from the SMP wearing nothing but Jeans and a dark hoodie with his inventory full of food,gold diamonds, worms on a string, Emerald,ender pearls and practically all of Eret’s savings (I mean like money that is usable in all servers kind a like a common currency).

Eventually CJ made new friends in a public server named  Ethan and pat! Ethan goes by the nickname Goggles, he’s technically the oldest not by much and is the shortest. Pat goes bye a bunch of silly nicknames but they do call him Sap (either because he’s a big softy at heart or some parts of his arm are sticky like tree sap because of his T patches) CJ now goes by the name vision and his little group of friends call themselves the V team! (basically dream team part to electric Boogaloo!) with his new friends CJ learns that he can make himself more human but to do it  he needed to peel off all of his porcelain which hurt like hell! But his friend stuck by his side and helped him paint the new colors of his skin and eyes. He still has his original face he where is it as a mask now. Eventually they do start running out of money and since they’re technically they are all runaways and they are minors they have no way to get money and Pat is running out of patches so CJ started entering in local speed running tournaments and in their free time they would code and make videos and when Pat got better they fully announced who they were!  :)  The V team!

-

To be honest pink bluntly said that she was done with everybody’s bullshit SO she’s doing her own cottage core, retirement arc and nobody well fuck this up for her! Oh you’re practically dead because someone is trying to hunt you down sorry I can’t help I’m too busy tending to my garden and weaving flower crowns so kindly fuck off!  The only time she broke her retirement arc was when her cousin and totally not his boyfriend we’re running away from Bad boy halo, pink was originally just going to let the two fend for themselves but bad really just had to break down her aesthetically pleasing Massi cobblestone fence and trample her garden of tulips let’s just say that before pink re-planted her flowers she planted her boot far up his- *cough*



#big brother au #pink really did say I’m going to get my own retirement arc with cobblestone fences and baking!

[winduphaurchefant]

REALLY LONG CHARACTER SURVEY » Reese Farouel

RULES.  Repost, don’t reblog! Tag 10! Good luck!

TAGGED BY. @to-the-voiceless

TAGGING. @fivebrights and anyone else who wants to do it since the rest of flowr has been tagged

BASICS.

FULL  NAME : Charalise Farouel

NICKNAME : Reese, which she uses instead of her actual first name. It stuck.

AGE : 28

BIRTHDAY : 28th day of the 6th umbral moon (12/28)

ETHNIC  GROUP : Elezen / Wildwood and Duskwight parentage

NATIONALITY : Sharlayan

LANGUAGE / S : Eorzean Common, Sharlayan, and bits of some niche languages.

ORIENTATION : Bi (is inexperienced with the concept of polyamory but might be willing to try if it comes up)

RELATIONSHIP STATUS : In flowrverse (our fc where we are All wol)) she’s most likely taken by Haurchefant because there’s absolutely no fucking way he’d die on her watch. In-game universe is less concrete, her self esteem is quite low so she doesn’t actively seek relationships but she’s prone to getting crushes easily; Urianger being one of them.

HOME  TOWN / AREA : The Sharlayan Colony, Dravania

CURRENT HOME : A small cottage on the very fringes of the Lavender Beds. Also technically Fortemps manor and her room in the Pendants.

PROFESSION : Scholar (in the literal sense), Adventurer, and Warrior of Light 

PHYSICAL.

HAIR : Café au lait blonde. She used to have it quite long, reaching past her hips, not styled in any specific way but brushed at least. After the Seventh Umbral Calamity she’s kept it quite short for practical purposes and usually hacks away at it herself, much to her friend Lunya’s chagrin.

EYES : Almond shaped eyes of deep blue with a halo of gold around the pupil, accentuated by her thick brows which are uncommon for most Elezen.

FACE : An oval shaped face with a tall, straight nose. Not overly animated in her expressions since the calamity.

LIPS : Has somewhat pouty lips and a bad habit of lip biting

COMPLEXION : Fair skin that freckles easily, she has the ability to tan but makes sure to apply salves to her skin before leaving for areas with more intense sunlight. Lots of moles, with a few noticeable ones on her face.

BLEMISHES : None that are noticeable 

SCARS : A Lot. She has a very prominent scar across her back which she usually likes to cover up.

TATTOOS : None. She enjoys seeing other people’s tattoos but wouldn’t get one for herself, she hates feeling stuck with something.

HEIGHT : Average height for an Elezen at around 6′3″

WEIGHT : 180 lbs give or take, most of it is muscle

BUILD : Tall and lean, quite muscular but not very toned. Her muscles were built more for purpose and less for show, like a power lifter. She could probably roundhouse kick someones head clean off. Pear shaped.

FEATURES : Her prominent brows and two moles beside her right eye

ALLERGIES : No known allergies, but she can get sick very easily.

USUAL  HAIR  STYLE :  When it was long she usually just wore it down and free flowing, she does the same with her short hair although it doesn’t flow as much.

USUAL  FACE  LOOK : Her expression is usually quite stoic with a hint of Very Tired to spice things up. Is known frequently to come down with a case of RBF

USUAL  CLOTHING : Loose tunics and some fitted trousers and boots when she’s sitting around researching or not doing much, she’ll just pile on armour as needed. Starts to wear things that are a bit more form fitting or aesthetically pleasing as she becomes more comfortable with herself.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S : Heights, being trapped, death, death of loved ones, failure, being abandoned, and... spiders

ASPIRATION / S :  To just be... content. Surrounded by people she loves and who earnestly love her in return.

POSITIVE  TRAITS : Empathetic, resilient, compassionate, she is the unstoppable force and the immovable object.

NEGATIVE  TRAITS : She is the unstoppable force and the immovable object. Tends to bottle her feelings and has a hard time trusting people. Self-sacrificing. Low self worth.

MBTI : INFP-T (Mediator) 

ZODIAC : Althyk (Capricorn)

TEMPERAMENT : Cross between phlegmatic and melancholic

SOUL  TYPE / S : Server

ANIMALS : Dire wolf, lioness, sparrow

VICE HABIT / S: Prone to bouts of just... lying there. Doesn’t sleep very well so she ends up half finishing a lot of things.

FAITH : Unsure

GHOSTS ? : Yes.

AFTERLIFE ? : Possibly

REINCARNATION ? : Possibly

ALIENS ? : Anything’s possible!

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT : She really doesn’t like thinking about politics after being absolutely smothered by The Bibliothecs. Very left leaning

EDUCATION  LEVEL : Received a proper education at the Studium in Old Sharlayan, sponsored by a certain Archon. Her interests were too varied to become an Archon and was constantly belittled for her niche areas of study. If she only applied herself...

FAMILY.

FATHER : Barnimonchet Farouel. (Status Unknown)  Archon Barnimonchet was the foremost expert on aetherytes and aetherical travel. Having led repairs to multiple aetheryte systems across Eorzea and a member of the Antitower excursion team, he drifted (literally) quite frequently between the Studium and the colony. Despite his meek nature and tendency to ramble, there is no doubting that he was worthy of the title of Archon.

MOTHER : Nenne Farouel née Phillone (Status Unknown) Archon Nenne was a master in the studies of all things alchemical, including potions, crystal structures, and inks for grimoires and tomes. Her preferred area of study was researching ways to better the body and mind, noting the aetherical compositions of different beings and brewing revitalizing concotions; especially her recent invention which coined the term "Craftman's Tea", creating the recipe as a way to help her husband in his work. She often found herself in the Arboretum gathering ingredients and helping out her fellows tasked with groundskeeping, scolding tones of "Barn!" could be frequently heard echoing through the Telmatology quarter as her husband and formerly mentioned Archon fumbled his way through the vined walkways to visit her.

SIBLINGS : None

EXTENDED  FAMILY : No knowledge of extended blood family. The closest she had to a parental figure was Archon Louisoix who had originally offered to babysit her as a babe when her parents left on orders to study an aetherical disturbance, after which they disappeared. He took on the role as a surrogate parent for her, having no trust in Sharlayan’s current care system. Takes on an older sibling role with the younger scions.

NAME MEANING / S : I named her Reese Peepo because I like Reese’s Pieces and the peepo video was popular at the time. Charalise is a nonsense name I gave her to fit in with why she’s Reese. 

HISTORICAL  CONNECTION ?: none

FAVORITES.

BOOK : She loves history books with any knowledge predating the fourth astral era, and has been known to read the occasional romance novel when no one is looking. Has grown to hate learning about anything Allagan.

DEITY : No specific deity

HOLIDAY : Starlight Celebration

MONTH : October (Fifth umbral moon)

SEASON :  Fall/Winter

PLACE : Urth’s Gift

WEATHER : Rain

SOUND / S: Wind blowing through the trees, crackling of firewood, morning bird calls, the cello

SCENT / S :  Clean laundry, freshly baked goods, flowers, cut grass

TASTE / S :  Savoury, warm spices, nothing too sweet

FEEL / S : Heavy blankets, smooth crystal, soft leaves

ANIMAL / S : All

NUMBER : none

COLORS : Earthy colours and the blue of the ocean on a clear day

EXTRA.

TALENTS : Gardening, sword fighting, art, singing (she usually does it by herself), healing magic

BAD  AT : Staying level headed, opening up, decorating, fashion

TURN  ONS : Honesty, good sense of humour, kindness

TURN  OFFS : Cruelty, making fun of her interests, being ignored, arrogance

HOBBIES : Researching lost civilizations, anything creative, cooking

TROPES : Rage Breaking Point, It Sucks to Be the Chosen One, Big Fucking Sword, Adorkable, Conveniently an Orphan, Friend to All Living Things, Broken Hero,  I Just Want to Be Loved, Badass Bookworm

QUOTES : 

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 : If you could write your character your way in their own movie,  what would it be called,  what style would it be filmed in, and what would it be about?          

A1 : Probably a LOTR-esque high fantasy adventure movie

Q2 : What would their soundtrack/score sound like?          

A2 : Lots of cello and choir pieces

Q3 : Why did you start writing this character?          

A3 : She’s basically my self insert but with a little extra Oomph

Q4 : What first attracted you to this character?          

A4 :  She’s basically my self insert

Q5 : Describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse.

A5 : She’s not very expressive, she’s not used to being super goofy or anything which I am

Q6 : What do you have in common with your muse?          

A6 : Lots

Q7 : How does your muse feel about you?          

A7 : Probably pretty chill, would probably go and get pizza together

Q8 : What characters does your muse have interesting interactions with?        

A8 : Haurchefant intentionally or unintentionally tends to break her stony facade with his ceaseless flirting and a barrage of compliments which usually ends up with Reese either cracking a little smile or turning beet red and abruptly leaving the room. He brings out the morosexual in her. She instantly becomes brighter than the sun when she’s around anyone far younger than her, switching to a more motherly persona. Alphinaud and Alisaie receive the brunt of her affections before Ryne comes along. Neither will admit to the fact they both actually enjoy it.

Q9 : What gives you inspiration to write your muse?        

A9 : Honestly       listening to LOZ music since she’s basically Link but a little bit to the left

Q10 : How long did this take you to complete?          

A10 : F.....four days

#ffxiv #ask meme #reese #reese farouel #elezen

[d-izzy-pointed-soulrider]

Angel // Theory of a Deadman

I’m in love with an angel who’s afraid of the light

Her halo is broken, but there’s fight in her eyes

Walls are built to keep us safe until they’re crashing down

Worlds apart we were the same until you hit the ground

Have a soft lesbian aesthetic for my newly discovered soft lesbians.

It had nothing to do with the fact that Izzy had never noticed Rin - she was friendly and cute; Izzy’s just never been a relationship before, so it never really crossed her mind. And, even if it did, and she was just in denial, look at all the shit she had going on in her life.

Her and Rin being any kind of together is so recent it’s not even funny. They chatted and hung out at a couple events before, and Izzy liked to stop by the Purple Pony ever once in a while because of all the cool and beautiful things in the shop, but her appearance at the New Year’s party really did it in.

Izzy was looking a little alone, a little sad, despite the smile on her face, so Rin coaxed her into dancing with her. She got her into reading some of the comics at the store, and you wouldn’t believe the way Rin’s face lit up and how she squealed when Izzy introduced her to some of her Jorvik Wild Horses.

They’re still just friends yet, but Rin manages to keep her spirits up, even already. She feels happier with her than she has in a long while, considering everything.

Maybe she finally has something to write back to her father, after all.

#sso #star stable online #development #rizzy

[quatschmachen]

Tangles

A small late Christmas Monmonton fic. Takes place in 1984.

Masterpost

XXXXX

Outside the wind was blowing the cold snow across the street, whipping the drifts across the sidewalk, where a once cleanly shoveled pavement was once again covered in the light crystalline fluff not yet crushed underfoot of passersby.

Inside the home the tree was fresh, standing there bare, slightly pulled out from the corner, close to the crackling fireplace. It seemed rather forlorn amongst the festively decorated house, where popcorn garlands and handmade stockings hung.

Across the room Étienne and Samuel had entered into a heated argument as to how to decorate the tree. Edward was helping Jacques put the bubble lights on, or more honestly, untangle the bubble lights and test them. Somehow in detangling, the lights had wrapped around his elbow with one of the bubblers poking him in the bicep.

<Let me help you with that,> Jacques said as he gently lay down his section to untangle Edward.

<Tell me… do they always do that?> Edward nodded to where Étienne had grabbed the box of ornaments and was holding them hostage to an ever increasingly angry Samuel.

<Oh yes. Samuel wants the pure aesthetic of themed coloured ornaments, Étienne wants memories.>

<So… what happens?>

Jacques took a moment to respond, as he worked out one of the more complicated tangles.

<Usually Samuel ends up winning, but somehow during the middle of the night, all the old ornaments also get put on… a mystery.>

<Why do they need to fight if it’s the same result each year?> Edward was feeling like a fish out of water having come to this intimate family gathering. He was still baffled as to why they had invited him, but anything to escape the awkward Christmas with Edith he would take. Christmases at his place had never been the same since his time in the asylum.  He sensed that Edith had been privately relieved as well when he had informed her of his invitation to elsewhere.  The invitation elsewhere which originally had meant to only be him at Étienne’s, a planned out event of relaxing while Étienne moaned on about some artist he had to read about in class, or excitedly jabber on about some weird modern art style he had just learnt about. Ever since Étienne had gotten it into his head to get an MA in art history – and actually got into the school, Edward had noticed a gradual change in the other man, where once there had been an odd vacancy of interest, a renewed spark had taken hold.  Étienne had one more semester before he graduated, and Edward was very… proud, mixed with something else.

What he had assumed would be a private Christmas actually meant going to Trois-Rivières for the ‘family shindig’, a change in plans which he had not mentally prepared for. How the hell would he be explained? Étienne had waved off all his concerns informing him that ‘Suzette was the best’ and ‘we always bring friends over so its not a problem’ followed by ‘you really need to try Suzette’s tourtière’.

So he was here, the lost stranger amongst the tight knit family, talking to what could tentatively be called the patriarch. He had not figured out the other man, he was reserved, not at all like his two brothers, perhaps a little more like Élyse in nature.  

Jacques shrugged as he gently released Edward’s arm from the lights, <It’s how they say they love each other.>

Étienne was loudly screeching because Samuel had swiped the box from him, followed by thumping as Samuel quickly ran from the room.

<Love, huh? Almost sounds like a murder.> Edward joked, pleased to see a small smile appear on the other man’s face. Love was the reason why he was here, sitting with the brother, keeping distances between him and Étienne. Somehow being here was making everything around him seem real, where in private he could dream that the man he loved could return a feeling, being plunked down into this scenario made everything that wasn’t apparent.  Consciously he did not touch the other man, he lived in absolute fear that the family would suspect something. The something that wasn’t there. The something that had twisted him, the thing that tormented him. What the hell would he do if anyone asked if he and Étienne were… more than friends? Lie of course, lie bald faced to the sweet-cheeked Suzette, ‘no, just old friends’, where the lie was mostly truth, the most effective tool to bury down the truths not meant for the waking day.

<We should test before we wrap,> Jacques said as he plugged it in, distracting Edward from the pandemonium in the next room. There was that moment of anticipation, a brief flash, and then a gentle pop.

<Oh no, the blue bulb.> Edward automatically said.

<Don’t worry, I have replacements…> almost proudly, Jacques produced a small box. Methodically he tested each and every bulb, found the culprit and replaced it.  The care with which Jacques did the action, the satisfaction on his face as the lights once more flickered on, his face suddenly reflected in blue, twisted Edward’s stomach. He hated it, but he was jealous. Adjusting his glasses, Edward shifted away, trying to quell these unpleasant feelings. Mechanically he helped Jacques wrap the tree in the lights, pricking himself in the process, thankfully not drawing any blood. Standing back, Jacques surveyed the tree, making small adjustments to the lights, until he nodded in satisfaction.  

Looking at Edward he said, <Now we let the two hyenas fight over the decorations… do you want some eggnog?>

<Sure...> Rubbing his hands on his corduroy pants, Edward followed Jacques into the kitchen, where Suzette was putting together some of the meal for the next day. As she placed the lid on the dish, she let out a sound of surprise as Jacques snuck up from behind and wrapped her in his arms, giving her a kiss on her neck.

<Jacques!>

<My love, that ham looks divine. What did you use in the marinade this year?>

<Nutmeg, cinnamon, brown sugar….> she began listing off, before she noticed Edward awkwardly standing halfway in the kitchen, almost ready to flee.  <Édouard, did you want some eggnog?>

<Yes.>

<Please make yourself at home, the cups are there, and the eggnog is warm on the stove. Élyse made it, her special recipe.>

<O-ok.> quickly Edward found himself a mug, and hastily ladled some of the warm alcoholic liquid into it, before making a hasty exit not wishing to see any more of what he could not have.

The hallway wasn’t well lit, and as his wool socks slid slightly on that gap where the wood floor peeked out from the rug, Edward warmed his hands on the mug and looked at the photos on the wall.  All the frames were the same, a nice medium brown wood, with different images of the family. It looked as if they had recently had a professional photograph taken, as that one was pride of place amongst the constellations of smaller images around it. There was an image of Suzette and Jacques under a tree, hands clasped as they looked at each other deep in conversation, whoever had taken that photograph seemed to know the exact moment to capture, a moment where the sun was shining, the soft dapple of the leaf shadows around them, haloing a couple deeply in love.

Taking a sip of the cinnamon rum eggnog, he swallowed the creamy mixture, licking his lips as he glanced over the photo of Élyse wearing the hugest hair bow he had ever seen in his entire life, an image of Samuel posing dramatically on some stone stairs, and then one of Étienne wearing some ridiculous pompom sweater. Another photo of Étienne and Élyse at the Montreal Olympics, wearing the official jacket smiling in front of the flame, eyes alight with pride.  This house, Edward realized, served as the heart of this strange family nucleus, where Jacques, though quiet and never one much to be noticed, was the anchor. What would it be like to have that back home? He wondered.

A place for people to gather, feel safe, be happy together. He hadn’t had that in a long time, and his mind drifted to his family. Edith who was spending Christmas with some friends, Mac, hell when had he actually had a good sit down visit with him? Calvin? He wasn’t really family, plus he was busy annoying the hell out of Caroline and whoever else had the misfortune to be in his festive Christmas proximity. His thoughts were broken when he heard something fall to the floor in the other room, followed by Étienne letting out a string of very serious curses.

Curiously he made his way to the living room where he saw Étienne on the floor holding something, tears in his eyes as he continued to shout at Samuel who was looking down at him with a rather nasty expression.

<Relax baby brother, that decoration never really fit in with the theme anyway, that little piece of ugly… “art…” as you call it, was never worth much anyway, I think it looks better like that.> Samuel responded in a not at all comforting manner.

Was Jacques really sure this is how they expressed love for each other? Edward thought. To him it just looked like a terrible relationship. Samuel had turned his back on Étienne and was beginning to decorate the tree. As he once more looked to Étienne, Edward realized that he was in fact starting to sob rather hard. What the hell had broke? His legs were moving before he had even considered that it might be bad to walk into this situation, and he crouched next to the other man.

<Bouclés?> he said softly, <Do you want to come to the dining table with me? Bring the ornament.>

Étienne looked at him, face red from crying, then looked at the ground trying to see if he had missed any pieces. Edward also looked, finding a small wire, and an odd ball. He looked at the ornament in Étienne’s hand, and then, when Étienne confirmed they had all the pieces, he followed Edward to the dining room, carefully laying out the broken pieces on the wooden table. Sitting down, he placed his mug on the table with a thud, and looked at it frowning in thought. Étienne had quieted down slightly, watching him.

<Do you have some needle-nose pliers and glue here?> Edward asked, his thoughts shifting to the ornament, moving the parts around.  Finally before him was something he could do. He was good with his hands, with fixing what needed to be fixed. Years of necessity had taught him to repair. This ornament, while probably never going to be perfect, was doable.  

<Uh—yeah.> Étienne disappeared, returning quickly with the asked for items.  He handed them to Edward, then once more sat on the chair nearby, knees drawn up to his chin as he intently watched the other man work.

Edward felt sort of guilty for having avoided the other man ever since they had got to this house, guilty about being sort of snappy when he had been shown Étienne’s room – asking where he would sleep, and having a minor freak-out until Étienne had rolled his eyes and showed him the pullout couch in the den next to his bedroom.  He probably shouldn’t have done that, but there was nothing to do about it now. He could feel the other man’s eyes upon his hands, and he hoped that maybe repairing this ornament could make up for his mood earlier.

The only sound in the dining room was the tick-tock of the grandfather clock out in the hallway.

<So… this goes here, right?> Edward asked.

<Yes… but a little like…> Étienne reached out, his fingers brushing against Edward’s as he shifted the ball.

It took every inch of willpower not to automatically pull away, to relax into the brief touch. No one would suspect anything from such an innocent moment, even if secretly his heart was pounding. Trying not to sound shaky, Edward asked, <So I glue it like this?>

<Yeah.>  

Edward glued the piece into place, and then looked up at the other man with a wry expression, as he held it. <Looks like I might be here for a while, I should have thought this through. This is a Calder piece, isn’t it?>

<How did you know?>

<Bouclés, who else is known for making cool mobiles and was featured at Expo 67? Of course the moment you saw this tiny mobile you had to get it.>

Letting out a snort, Étienne mumbled, <Well I think we might have interfered with the artistic intent… probably won’t move as it should now… but thanks for fixing it.>

<Oh ye of little faith,> Edward responded, then, <Hey, can you like… hold up my eggnog so I can drink it?>

It took a little awkward positioning, but finally, the mug was held up enough and Edward managed a sip.

<This is gonna take a while of me holding it together, so why don’t you entertain me? Tell me something interesting.> Edward prompted, knowing that if he had to sit in silence for the next twenty minutes next to the man he should not touch he would go absolutely mad.

Étienne’s face lit up. <Yeah! This semester I took a class on surrealist art and when it comes to Magritte…> his voice droned on as he enthusiastically informed Edward all about this artist, and how he had adopted some of the techniques discussed into some of his own paintings (paintings which Edward had yet to see manifest.)

Nodding along, Edward made the appropriate comments, genuinely interested, but also halfway trying not to lean into the other man. Whenever that urge got too strong, he would get Étienne to hold up his eggnog, taking that movement to gather himself.

After another twenty minutes, Edward set the piece down onto the table. <This probably shouldn’t be moved until tomorrow. Let the glue cure.>

<But… how am I supposed decorate with it to save the tree from the boring Christmas aesthetic Samuel is subjecting it to?>

<Bouclés, just wake up early,> Edward rolled his eyes and then let out a sound of surprise as Étienne was suddenly much closer, back of his hand brushing warm against his cheek, as Étienne leant forward and whispered.

<That’s usually tough to do with you around.>

<We’re not sharing the same bed,> Edward hissed, <I thought we covered I’m sleeping on the pull-out couch downstairs?>

<You haven’t slept on that pull-out couch…> Étienne replied ominously as he quickly pulled away as the sound of someone walking drew closer.

Élyse peeked in, <Oh that’s where you two are. C’mon, it’s Christmas carols.>

#quatschfic #pc: edmonton #pc: montreal #1980s

[youngdumbxlit]

WIP Prep Tag Game

Tagged by the amazing @katabasiss ❤️

Rules: Answer the questions and then tag as many writers as there are questions answered (or as many as you can) to spread the positivity! Even if these questions are not explicitly brought up in the novel, they are still good to keep in mind when writing.

I’m gonna answer for my newest WIP Black Mamba, Bloody Reign.

FIRST LOOK

1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch).

- Nonhle, the Crown Princess of Nohr, “accidentally” orders the death of her parents and begins her reign.

2. How long do you plan for your novel to be?

- Book series

3. What is your novel’s aesthetic?

- Hmm. Night swims, golden thrones, broken crowns, bloody swords, tough decisions

4. What other stories inspire your novel?

- Children of Blood and Bone, Strange the Dreamer, Throne of Glass

5. Share 3+ images that give a feel for your novel.

MAIN CHARACTER

6. Who is your protagonist?

- Nonhle, new queen of Nohr

7. Who is their closest ally?

- Nonhle grew up with Asha, they were raised as close as siblings so they have that bond as sisters would. But things changed when Nonhle comes to power. She trained with Kofi as a child and he was there when Asha wasn’t and he sort of fell into Asha’s former role.

8. Who is their enemy?

- She is her own worst enemy. But there’s another one too 😉

9. What do they want more than anything?

- To see O’Cyrus burn.

10. Why can’t they have it?

- You have to read to find out

11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

- That her mother was right.

12. Draw your protagonist!

- Nonhle is every inch the queen her people see her as. She has fierceness and grace in her presence, walking as if she always wears her crown. Her eyes are so black that they’re blue with a shimmer as though you’re looking at the nighttime sky.

- Kofi is every bit the warrior a warrior can be. His skin is dark and his eyes brown with a golden halo. He bares scars hidden from the world.

13. What is the internal conflict?

- She’s fighting good and evil within her because she knows them both very well

14. What is the external conflict?

- The Kingdom of Nohr doesn’t like change especially not when Nonhle is on the throne. Oh, there’s something major that happens too.

15. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist?

- She loses herself trying to please her people.

16. What secrets will be revealed that change the course of your story?

- I almost told y’all 😂

17. Do you know how it ends?

- I know how book one ends.

BITS AND BOBS

18. What is the theme?

- Whew chile, I don’t know yet.

19. What is a recurring symbol?

- Snakes.

20. Where is this story set?

- A made up country in Africa called Nohr. I’m using African cultures as a reference

21. Do you have any images or scenes in mind already?

- I do. I’m on chapter 3 and I already know my ending scene. 🤩

22. What excited you about this story?

- Nonhle came to me in a dream and I fell in love.

23. Tell us about your usual writing method!

- Hmm. I start off by handwriting every idea that I get them I switch to a word document. I can go hours typing without stopping when I’m inspired.

Tagging: @thegobletofire @shehermonroe @writebruh @thegirlandthepen @nikolaidelphiki @the-black-flucking-unicorn @cjjameswriting

Feel free to skip if you don’t wanna do it!☺️

[canvaswolfdoll]

CanvasWatches: Haibane-Renmei

Should I start doing the (Re)Watches thing again, or is that a superfluous detail? On one hand, it provides information that it’s a review not based on my very first impressions, but on the other, is it really necessary?

Anyways, I rewatched Haibane-Renmei. I like it? It’s… it’s a nice little thing. Arty, imaginative, and dark without being outright pretentious about it. Class act. You should go watch it.

Seriously, it’s the type of show that… well, it doesn’t live or die by being unspoiled, but it’d be difficult to discuss without both participants having the context of seeing it. It’s one of those shows that’s more about aesthetic and tone than actual story.

It’s on Funimation at least, and I’m not even being sponsored to carefully, yet firmly shove you in it’s general direction! I just really like dubs and want to support them.[1] Also, it’s on Youtube, legally.

Go watch it. I’ll wait for you. After the page break.

So, one of the lessons one should study from the show is world building by suggestion instead of explicit dialogue. The show is a rare example of pretty much the entire cast knowing very little about what’s up with the fantastical elements, and those who might know something aren’t talking.

Heck, the guys likely to know something use a sign language just to avoid people requesting exposition. The jerks.

As a consequence of this, based on the piece by itself, I can’t conclusively tell you what The Deal with everything is, merely speculate based on imagery and random details.

I mean, the Haibane have a lot of Angel Imagery about them, and they’re… hatched? Born knowing how to walk and talk, and though they have no memory, and yet, based on Rakka’s experience, they feel as if they should remember something, but come up blank.

So I think it’s probably a purgatory thing, much like Angel Beats! wherein the residents have emotional baggage holding them back.

Except the Haibane don’t remember what traumas they might have, so it might be a more inner peace sort of thing?

I could also be totally off base, which is also exciting.

It’s that very aspect that makes this an important lesson: Haibane-Renmei works with being vague about its world because that’s what the story calls for. Other narratives, where you can’t take the fantastical elements with casualness, require exposition.

Basically, Haibane-Renmei is a benchmark for one end of the exposition scale. Stare at it, and hopefully I can find it’s partner at the other end.[2]

There are things about the world you can deduce and interpret, and admittedly ascribe. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter too much, as the actual central narrative is first about Rakka learning about the world she’s suddenly born into, then Reki overcoming her internal struggles with the help of Rakka.

Which is probably a metaphor about depression.

Look, I’ve always held the philosophy of ‘It’s nothing without a good surface story’ and despise when media tries to push vaguely defined symbolism and “Hidden Meaning” as the focus. If I can’t understand it on a first viewing, you have failed.

Haibane-Renmei does that correctly. On the first viewing, I had lingering curiosities, but I was mostly invested in exploring the world and solving what Reki’s big problem is.

And, now that I know those things, I am willing and able to enjoy a second viewing where I can analyze whatever bizarre elements are in the borders, because the creator put in the work of making a strong focal story that isn’t desperate to discard Unworthy Viewers.

Someone I’m particularly drawn to is The Communicator, who is sort of community leader for the Haibane, and thus the person probably most informed by what is going on, but at the same time is of the ‘vague lessons’ school that The Sphinx satirized.

He’s what the professor of a story analysis class I accidentally[4] took might call ‘The System Character’: a character that represents a system the protagonist is (supposedly) fighting against.[5]

The Communicator’s actually a very compassionate but reserved man, who clearly cares for his charges while trying to remain emotionally distant from these beings who, by their very nature, are destined to leave. He is the chief executor of the laws and customs that govern the Haibane, but will allow them to be broken or stretched whenever they’d be hindering. For example, he’s notably lax about Haibane speaking within the temple, which is supposedly forbidden, and eventually gives Rakka a job maintaining the structure Haibane must never touch.

And I think that’s because, over the last five years, The Communicator has realized that being overly restrictive may have doomed Reki, and built a divide that makes him incapable of helping her.

So, now, he needs to use Rakka to save the artist’s soul, but mindfully so as not to accidentally condemn Rakka. It’s subtle, but The Communicator keeps a close tab on at least Old Home and its going-ons, and when the more naive Rakka begins going through the same struggles as Reki is suffering, The Communicator identifies how Reki’s found a kindred spirit, and now can teach and help this New Feather, then aim her to help the Haibane he fears he’s going to lose.

It’s also implied that he, too, has failed to take flight, and wishes the pain of this failure on no one.

Then again, this might be things I’m just ascribing. But it doesn’t matter, because that’s not the point of the show. Its point is to bring the viewer into a new world and tell a pleasant story within it.

I’ve always had an odd fascination with Death Mythology stories. From Anthropomorphic Personifications to what comes after, if you make Death a character or show me what comes next (even just portionally) you’ll have my attention.[7] And it shouldn’t be surprising, since death’s such a scary thing that looms over everyone, with some many unknowable questions, that of course humanity would try to answer these questions.

And Purgatories are bizarrely compelling because the implied existence of a transition world, where you go from an impermanent life to an equally impermanent realm. Heck, Dante’s own depiction portrayed it as climbing a mountain as you overcome your sins before finally being granted access to Paradise.[8] To go through the trial of life, only to find yourself before yet another trial is fascinating.

And the town of Haibane Renmei, Glie, is fascinating as far as Purgatories go, since not only can you die there conventionally, but there’s assumably mortal humans residing there, working jobs, living life, having babies, but also all forbidden from exiting the walls that surround the town, which explicitly has an outside world that is travelled by nomads known as Togas (who might be failed Haibane).

It’s also stated, explicitly, that Haibane that fail to take their day of flight will lose their halo and wings, and will grow old and die.

What does it mean to die in the afterlife? Where do you go? And what are the townspeople? Are they also deceased, but following a different path to salvation? Or are they mortals, and Glie is somewhere in the real world, like Baum’s Oz?

These are the sorts of Death World-building questions that excite me, and don’t have answers or are particularly addressed, and I’m not dissatisfied about that. Partly because, again, there’s a focal narrative, and partially because I appreciate having world elements just because that’s how the creator wants it to be, without any meaning behind it.

It’s okay to just have blue curtains.

Still, this is an Anime about Death and Depression, even if no one says so on screen.

We witness two characters pass on and go beyond the wall, and depression wreck our protagonists.

Kuu’s Day of Flight is viewed by most as good and right, and they move on. Rakka, of course, wasn’t properly informed about it, so was taken by surprise and fell into depression.

But the actions Kuu takes leading up to it…

So, I’m not a medical practitioner, and I’m not sure if I suffer (or have suffered) depression, so I’m basing this next bit of analysis on the word of mouth information that gets passed around. However…

Kuu’s shown to be upbeat as she goes about, tying up loose ends, granting vague good-byes to others in her life, and gives away her possessions (highlighted by Kuu giving her favorite coat to Rakka). While the upbeat personality didn’t come suddenly, this is still frightfully similar to suicide warning signs you’re supposed to keep an eye out for. This is the healthy “Death” of the series.

I’m sure the similarities were accidental, but it’s still intriguing.

In contrast, there’s Reki’s depression and suicide attempt.

The lead up shows her being more isolating, moving out of what was once her room and into her studio, where she desperately paints, trying to remember her cocoon dream, and no one but Rakka takes much notice, as only Rakka and Nemu know about Reki being sin-bound, and Rakka’s the only one to go through it personally.[9]

The sequence and final episode is emotional. Even as Reki prepares to be crushed by her train, she doesn’t really want to leave, and she even identifies what she needs to do to get out of it (ask for help), but still finds herself unable. Even when Rakka arrives to try and help, presenting Reki with her true name, Reki still rejects it (probably not helped by the fact that the Communicator’s first story amounts to ‘Well, your lot is to end in pain. Shrug Ascii.’) and Reki says things she knows will hurt Rakka, things that Reki tells her are true, that Reki never cared for Rakka, she just needed someone for one last attempt at being normal.

And so, Rakka leaves, and finds Reki’s diary to confirm that, no, Reki’s not actually that self-serving, and the depressed artist does still care.

So, Rakka returns, but it’s nearing too late, and Rakka is unable to help until, finally, moments before the end, Reki finally asks for help.

And gets it. So that’s nice.

However, Reki still leaves that same night, narrated by the Communicator’s revised story, as Reki’s True Name has changed to what she’d been using the whole time.

Because Reki, by putting on a mask and going through the motions for selfish reasons, was still doing good for others and living life. She kept trying, and eventually she ceased being her true self and was absorbed into her mask, which was also happened to be a healthier person.

Really, the one change I’d make is to delay Reki’s day of flight by at least a couple days, let the girl finally enjoy sunlight unhampered, and go around making amends for the wrongs she did and the wongs she received.

Have her meet with the Communicator first, both of them seeking repentance from the other, then have the Communicator tell his revised story over images of Reki returning to Abandoned Factory and making amends, playing with young feathers at Old Home, spending some time with Nemu, then a few scenes of her closing loose ends like Kuu before taking her day of flight.

I just didn’t like Reki surviving her suicide attempt, only to die that night anyways. I know life’s like that, but I think we could allow a little more fantasy in our town inhabited by angels.

I wish I could transition through my flippant ‘well, I could be wrong, art’s mysterious’ but I hate that mentality. I try to be open to being wrong and corrected, but I don’t like being indifferent, and I’m always annoyed by artists that embrace Death of the Author. It’s your work, your art, your creation. It has a part of you in it, that’s how art is created. You have authority over your story, don’t shrug that off. Embrace it.

Which… I think Haibane-Renmei doesn’t do that. Obviously, there’s a translation barrier, and I’m going off of TV Tropes, but when ABe (sic) says he’s keeping explanations vague to allow viewer interpretation, it feels less flippant than… cuss it, I’m naming names… less like Adventure Zone (Balance Arc) and Runewriters,[10] which have more concrete worlds and tones more towards telling a complete story, yet the creators have gone on record saying any peripheral material they produce or say has the same weight as any fan theory made by the audience.[11]

Haibane-Renmei, as a story and a piece of art, thrives off those vagueties. Rakka’s not sure exactly what’s going on, because her fellows are also working off an incomplete picture, because no one’s given a complete portrait. As such, the viewers are also kept unsure, because that’s what our viewpoint character is always feeling.

It’s set in a town literally closed off from the rest of the world, whatever that world is, because no one is allowed past those walls.

ABe gets to be vague because revealing concrete details would make this particular art weaker.

The work earned it.

I… really should do an essay on Death of the Author, and its use by modern critics and artists. Because I so hate it.

Well… that was my Rewatch of Haibane-Renmei, and harsh criticism of two Literary Criticism theories.

I really love this series. It’s an anime I think everyone should see, for it’s message and artistry.

I’d be happy to hear your thoughts or questions, because I like going off on weird tangents. Maybe, while you’re here, consider checking out my other works, and if you like what I’m doing, I’ve got a Patreon. Local businesses won’t accept the pages out of my notebooks as payment, after all.

Kataal kataal.

[1] Then again, Funimation, if you’d like to… the My Hero Academica Review got, like, three notes! Eh? [2] Needs to be exposition heavy, but still narratively satisfying.[3] [3] I hope it’s not Tolkien. I hate Tolkien. [4] I thought I was signing up for a storytelling class. But, no, it was an ego stroking class on the teacher’s personal analysis method, that was ultimately horribly reductionist. The useful stuff can be found on TV Tropes (better executed) and the rest was chaft. Lady literally thought she could graph comedy, and was too proud to play Pac-Man. [5] The fact that Rakka happily works within the system, and Reki’s problems spawn from rebelling is a good example why the professor of Footnote 4 is wrong.[6] [6] I have a lot of lingering resentment, and must now try not to spend this review tearing apart an unknown literary theory. [7] Though you still have to keep it. Watched an amount of Soul Eater while I was home sick from school, but I feel no draw to return to it. [8] I strongly recommend Overly Sarcastic Productions video on Purgatorio for those interested in finding out about The Divine Comedy’s Empire without actually reading it. [9] Also, they take medicine to hide the signs, though the black wings still remain. [10] Sorry, Shazzbaa. We cool? [11] Any further thoughts probably deserve an essay onto itself.

#CanvasWatches #haibane renmei #CanvasReviews #anime