#mostly fates but I'm familiar with awakening too

[suddenlybreeze]

Do you Fire Emblem!? 👀

I do! 😊

#mostly fates but I'm familiar with awakening too #and 3 houses

[leggerefiore]

Dreaming Reality

cw: Darkrai Cyrus, pokemkn hybrid au, slightly possessive Cyrus (very subtle)

pairing: Cyrus/Reader

Newmoon Island was desolate. Mostly rocky with only a small area of greenery that held a grotto inside it. You found it difficult at times to call it home. There were no pokemon that lived on the island, excluding a specific one. The nearest store required a long boat ride back to the main land. Then you needed to fret over what to bring with you. It was always messy.

Your home had become something more… functional than the tent you had originally pitched on it. The pain of hiring contractors to build out here remained fresh on your mind, especially with local rumours making it harder. Though, they absolutely did not have to worry about the nightmare being doing anything to them. He was too busy hiding in said grotto from earlier to avoid all of them. Fascinatingly, that was the first time you saw him express any form of jealousy, too, as he had wanted you to hide with him in the shade of the trees.

The next time came when you decided that more supplies were needed to live somewhat comfortably again. Heading out to meet the boat after scheduling for a pickup, you had watched the Darkrai's face shift from the area of the small cabin that he had claimed. “You are leaving again?” Cyrus's voice was strange, hypnotic – It was something impossibly calming and deep. You feared that if you listened too long, you would fall into slumber while doing something. He walked towards you, eerie shadows seemingly swirling as he moved.

“I'm running low on some bathroom essentials,” you mumbled, trying to fight the odd stupor that had begun to claim your mind. How much you had slept since coming to this island would likely concern any doctor, but such was the fate of being Darkrai's lover, you supposed. At least the dreams you had were often pleasant and comforting. Any nightmares ended quickly, and you found yourself being comforted by Cyrus when they happened.

“Do you truly need them?” his voice sounder like it was coming from everywhere as he grasped your hand and brought it to his lips, “Just stay here… I don't want to give you back to them right now…” You wanted to argue back, but the familiarity of his words sent shivers down your spine. The room around you seemed to suddenly fade to a complete void as you felt alone and terrified. Confusion rushed through your mind. Had you not been awake? Where was this?

You did not dare move.

Arms softly came around you from the darkness behind to gently embrace you.

“Beloved…” you could feel the heat of his breath on your ear, “Awaken.”

You shot awake in your bed, taken aback from the sheer lack of light in the room.

“Cyrus…” you whined, turning to see the man in bed beside you, “… Can't you just cuddle me here instead of messing with my dreams? You made me think I was out of toilet paper.”

He stared at you before clicking his tongue. “… I find it easier to express myself there… I apologise,” the blue-haired man sounded genuine. A hand came to grasp yours. He was being affectionate, something unfortunately uncommon. “Your mind is a comforting place for me to be…” he mumbled while leaning you back down against the sheets, “It's easy for me to lose myself there… Perhaps you hold a perfect world inside your mind…”

You suddenly grabbed his hand tighter than he held your own. It truly had become harder to distinguish reality from dreams. Only one thing was glaringly obvious, and it was Cyrus. No matter the place you were, he was always present in some form. Quite different from his initial reaction to you moving onto his island and deciding to keep him company. “That's almost sweet of you to say, Cy,” you told him sweetly, “… But I do need to be awake for things, too. How am I supposed to eat like that?”

“Do not be foolish,” his voice was strong as he spoke, “I allow you more than enough conscious periods to tend to your human needs. I don't want you to perish.” You sighed. The offence was clear on his face at the thought that he would allow harm to befall you from his actions. Pressing a kiss to his cheek, you then pulled away to stretch and get up from bed.

“Well, I'm going to the mainland for a while, for real this time,” you told him, “… I'll be back, you know. I live here and love to see my cute Cy working away on his projects in his little area.” The Darkrai almost looked more upset by those words than he did by your previous ones.

“I am not cute.”

“Oh, but you haven't seen your focused face. When you figure something out, you smile a little.”

The dark-type felt mortified endlessly by how you viewed him. It definitely bought you time to get away, though.

#pokemon x reader #cyrus x reader #pokemon cyrus x reader #cyrus/reader #pokemon/reader

[arisenreborn]

Fateful Symmetry - chapter 1

Word Count: 1,386 Characters: Olivia (Arisen), Emrys (Pawn) Table of Contents AO3: (link)

Hoo boy, I'm bad at summaries for Long Things, and this is probably going to be A Long Thing. Yanno, following Olivia and Emrys's journey from start to finish more or less. Starting here, in that abysmal excavation site...

CHAPTER 1: awakening

In dreams she saw the dragon circling wide overhead. A smoldering, ruined landscape she could make no sense of surrounded her, but all was cast in silence. It seemed the dragons shadow passed over her time and time again, like a living thing all its own, and as cold as the flames were hot. 

Pain washed over her like a tidal wave, dragging her hopelessly to the surface of consciousness where she could do nothing but flounder - blinded to all else by the immensity of it. Then it subsided, and it was all she could do to fade into those dreams yet again.

Two golden-red embers pierced through the veil of darkness, watching her. Something cold and soothing passed over her forehead, and she was acutely aware of a trickle of water trailing down her temple. 

Brow furrowing, she blinked back the shadows of a long sleep, the world coming into focus around her - or what little she could make sense of. Not that there was much to make sense of in the first place. They looked to be in some sort of cave, dark and dismally dry, and fashioned into a cell. 

“Finally coming around, are you?” The figure that sat over her tilted his head, his own brow creasing.

Yes; she didn’t know much else, but she had to get away from those long, dark dreams. Her body ached, but it was nothing she couldn’t shoulder through, and she did just that as she pushed herself to sit upright. Kindly, the man helped with a hand against her back. 

“Where…?” Her voice resisted against her dry throat, cracking against the dusty air. At once she started coughing, and the man was quick to hand her a water skin. It was mostly empty and warm, but still a relief. 

“Take it slow,” the man said. Then he glanced behind him towards the bars of their gaol - beyond which she could make no sense of the many bodies moving about. She heard him murmur: “Though… It ought to be about time for the overseer to come around.”

Too many words swam through her mind, and she could fathom almost none of them. Instead they sparked the familiar heat of frustration. 

“I’m sorry…” She swallowed and wet her lips, careful not to speak too quickly. “I am… very confused. Where are we?” 

“I’d be more surprised if you weren’t.” There was a jovial ring to his voice, like he was on the cusp of laughter - which was only all the more confusing to her. “When they dragged you in here you were a few ticks left overdone in the oven, by the looks of you. Not near so bad as how they said you’d been found, though. ‘Little more than coal’, they said.”

Her face scrunched up, a hollow discomfort echoing through her at his words. Yet when she lifted her arms to look herself over, there was no proof of what he claimed. 

These were her hands, a strange yet nonetheless comforting realization. One small sliver of recognition and familiarity. They were slightly calloused from years of training with the sword… She knew that, and yet she did not know how she knew. Everything beyond that was a smoky fog. 

“That’s right, you’re right as rain now. Healed up good and fast you did, real miracle work if you ask me.” He laughed, watching her expectantly. “Think you’ve got another miracle in ya? One that might get us out of this sorry spot?” 

Another wrinkle creased her forehead as she looked at him. ‘Ruggedly handsome’ by all accounts, albeit smeared in dirt and sweat. There was a strangeness to his eyes she couldn’t hope to comprehend, but the smile on his face was friendly and charming, and so far as she could tell he meant no harm in what he said, even if everything he said had a pointed lack of gravitas to it. Perhaps that was exactly what made him so… So? 

Having gone quiet she was squinting at him now, trying to decipher him. He waved a hand in front of her face.

“You uh, still with me?” 

Blinking, she gave herself a shake. “Who… are you?” 

“Bah, where are my manners? Emrys Venor, humbly at your service, my lady.” He placed his hand over his chest and dipped his head with a playful lack of reverence. 

Ah, she had it now. Despite all of her confusion and their dark and -frankly- frightening surroundings, his flippancy dismissed the gloom like a lantern in the night. His friendliness was a comfort, and she smiled now to realize it.

“Olivia.” She answered in kind, and then felt herself thrust once more into that dark fog of unknowing. This time searing needles accompanied it, prickling at the backs of her eyes and somewhere deeper in her mind. Gritting her teeth she groaned, grasping at her head with both hands. Flames and fog scorched the backs of her eyelids, her ears rang, and her stomach knotted itself.

“Whoa, easy there… Don’t push yourself…” Emrys’s voice soothed its way through the ringing, something softer to focus on. 

Something was terribly wrong. Who was she? A name told her little, the callouses on her hands perhaps a little more, but she didn’t even know what questions to ask herself. A cold fear began to spread through her - and then she quickly shunted it aside. No, no. Fear and worrying would get her nowhere. 

Start with the basics: Where was she from? Nothing. Did she have a home, family? Nothing. She was sure that she came from somewhere, that she must have had some point of origin, but all of it was veiled behind that wretched fog.

Mouth hanging open she looked once more to Emrys, whose expression she couldn’t hope to read. Confusion and concern, perhaps? 

For a split second she hesitated: Could she truly trust him? She had no idea what had happened to her or how she ended up in this place, but she had the distinct impression this was not where she ought to be. But he’d asked her about a miracle, hadn’t he? About getting them out of ‘this sorry spot’? 

She hoped that counted for something, and gambled on trust.

“I… don’t remember almost anything.” She shook her head. “My name, and… a dragon?”

“Shh.” The sound he made was sharp and quiet, like an assassin's blade. She blinked up at him and he was casting his eyes around them, leaning in close to her. “Pray, do not speak of any dragons here, miss, for all our sakes.” 

She didn’t understand, but she nodded slowly under the weight of his molten gaze. 

“Good. Is that… all, you can recall?” 

Tightening her lips she tried again to think of anything. She knew what an apple was. A book. A bird. She obviously had her command over language, had some concept of social niceties, but where any of it came from, nothing. Surface level stuff. 

“About myself, yes, I believe so.” 

“Isn’t that something…?” He lifted a hand to stroke his chin, and she noted that his moment of seriousness was quickly dissipating. “Well, with any luck it’ll come back as you move around. You were out of it for quite a while, even before they brought you here.”

“Who-” she cut in, as it seemed like he was going to continue, and she was already barely keeping up. “Who are ‘they’?”

His brows rose briefly, but shadows passed over them at that moment, and his eyes again flicked back towards the bars where figures approached. There were sounds of shouting, and more people being shuffled out of other cells further down the passage.

“Ah, you know what they say- or, do you? Either way. ‘Speak of devils and they shall appear’. You’ll see soon enough.” He kept his voice low as he sat himself up into a crouch, offering a hand to her. “Think you can stand?”

She took a moment to assess herself with a bit more clarity. Her body ached and felt a little fatigued, but more than anything she felt… impatient. The pains that hummed low in her muscles compared little to her ache to move, to do something. 

She knew not what just yet, but to start with, she took his hand.

#dragon's dogma 2 #crow's writing. #oc: olivia #oc: emrys

[emblemxeno]

Apologies if something like this has been asked before, but what would you say are your favorite things about Fates? I’m curious because I actually like the games quite a bit, and I also enjoy hearing what other people like about them.

No worries, anon!

1-The Characters

Fates, imo, has a very stellar cast. Characters like Corrin, Xander and Takumi I've gone over already in how much I adore them, but honestly the vast majority of the cast is great! There's a few I'm only neutral towards, and only one I actively really dislike, the rest I'm at least pretty fond of. The first gen cast in particular I think does a good job at having strong character interactions, especially cross kingdom supports; the big differences between how citizens of Nohr and Hoshido respectively go about their lives is crafted with a very deliberate dichotomy that is initially platformed as something forever incompatible, but is then subverted in various points in all three routes.

2-The Gameplay and Content

The mechanics and game flow introduced in Awakening I think was finely tuned in Fates. Pair up being more player controlled leads to satisfying strategies, and reclassing and skills are less centered around grinding. I like how the cast more often than not have min-maxed stat lines with clear strengths and weaknesses, as to me, that supplements an already important aspect of how FE plays regarding it's classes. That being said, classes like bow users and Armor Knights got very good niches that were very needed to not be completely outclassed. Class sets being varied by supports not just for the children but also the first gen cast was a fantastic choice as well, as it encourages other combinations beyond just getting extra stats in pair up. Dragon Veins were an amazing interactive gameplay element, and added an extra way to interact with the maps beyond navigating around terrain. Lastly, each route has a bevy of unique content, mostly maps, but Revelation has lots of exclusive supports as well!

3 The Music

The game's ost is phenomenal. An underrated aspect of the FE series is how its music is used to convey the games' stories through sound. With map themes alone, there's progression and intent. Birthright, for example starts with the light and spirited "Past Light" track, before shifting to "Justice RIP" and "No Justice", both signifying that things are getting more serious and dangerous, the latter being notable in that it's a Nohrian track to go along with how you're now in Nohrian territory. Then the triumphic "Alight" only starts when you're in the homestretch, facing familiar enemies whom were beaten before and can be beaten again. And, again, that's just four tracks! The entire ost paints a picture, be it in gameplay, story, or supports. There's even an entire track that only plays when a character's about to die in gameplay, and only gets brought in cutscenes to show how dangerous a particular foe has gotten! It's immaculate. And of course, Lost in Thoughts All Alone is an amazing lyrical track.

4 The Art style and Designs

People can rag on how certain characters or classes are designed in this game, but one thing that I think can't-or shouldn't-be denied is that the cast and setting have presence; they're recognizeable and give a taste of what's what. Besides Hoshido and Nohr being the typical "white" and "black" kingdoms, Hoshido has more spiritual or outside the box classes; they have the resources to experiment and hyper-specialize in certain crafts, even having religious classes, merchants, and blacksmiths available for options. Nohr, meanwhile, has more armor and mounts; it's a kingdom trained to be effective at competition and warfare in order to survive, and must forgo experimentation for practicality. The game is also just very pleasing to look at, where the muted but varied color palette makes characters and locales visually distinct without being too loud. There's also a lot of neat animations that characters do in battle, many that lots probably didn't notice or haven't even seen, which to me showcases a deep care and passion put into the little things.

5 The Story

While of course, not everyon'e cup of tea, I'm extremely fond of Fates' narrative. Mostly because, in storytelling media, there's always more than just words to convey a story. It's why I listed the other points before this one, because they all contribute to Fates' narrative construction. Pull from map music to hear what the story wants you to take from it from that point in the campaign, pull from character designs and portraits to see what to expect from a character's personality at a glance, see stats, classes, and personal skills to see and put into action how that unit plays and interacts with the map they join in, take a moment to really examine the terrain of maps both for strategy and to take in the kinds of environments in the game's world. Fates has a lot to say-probably too much for its own good-and so efforts were made to say things without words being necessary.

Beyond that, I think the story itself is gripping and involves themes and symbolism very easy to get lost in though (tee-hee) about. Individuality and authenticity, rejecting status quo, pacifism, the cycle of hatred/vengeance, commonality and understanding amongst opposites, etc. Hell, I tend to get into my own head about how characters are written or how moments are utilized in the story to tie back into a theme of some kind, because there's just that much to unpack.

So yeah. That's that.

#queue #fire emblem fates #not to say Fates is perfect though #i think there's still could be some kinks ironed out #change around forging and weapon debuffs for example #and the some plot aspects can be a little cheap #but overall what works in the game I find REALLY works and I'm satisfied with that

[odditycircus-2002]

Jeepers Creepers: Unexpected Turn of Events 9

(An older drawing of mine with Corbin)

EPILOGUE

The early morning light mostly lights the entrance halls, another day for the Poho County Police Station. Except, if you were to look further back the bloodstains and broken glass act as clear evidence of last night's activities, which most officers want to just forget and go back to dealing with regular carjackers. Darry and Trish didn't share the same desire, even as shaken and mentally scarred as they are, they refuse to forget the sacrifice their dear friend made for them both. 

Darry attempts to comfort his sister by rubbing her back, although he could think of nothing to say that could alleviate them both; having neither the words for comfort or a quip. Trish crouches over on the bench she's currently seated at, gripping tightly at the green bandana in her hands. Her grip over it being so strong that the police didn't dare to take the piece of paraphernalia away as evidence. Neither sibling look up or acknowledge when Jezelle comes through the front door towards them.

"Your folks just pulled up outside." r

Unsurprisingly, silence is what she's greeted with and it's the silence mixed with tension that falls between them for a while. An uncomfortable mixture that made Darry break it first.

"Looks like this answers my question."

Jezelle nods in agreement, licking her chapped lips before speaking.

"I guess so."

As if awakening from a long slumber, Trish blinks her eyes to rid herself of some of the grogginess that built up behind them. Still, like her brother, she doesn't look Jezelle directly in the eyes.

"You saw it was Darry, didn't you? He was the one screaming in the dark while listening to that song."

She's not sure if she could stand the pity and sadness she knows the psychic holds for them with her soft brown eyes. 

"You also saw a second path, didn't you? But you didn't say anything because it seemed too crazy to be true."

Jezelle looks down in shame and remorse with the morning light helping to elongate the shadow covering her facial features. Both Jenner siblings didn't need to shift their gazes to know about the tears forming in the older woman's eyes.

"That girl rewrites all the rules, but I didn't know if she can rewrite fate definitely. Though I'm just a crazy old woman, ask anybody around here, they'll tell you,"

Jezelle gives a long weary sigh, silently watching the two siblings get up from the bench.

"just a crazy woman, with crazy dreams."

She trails off in a dejected tone which Trish is barely able to catch, by the time she and Darry walk out the front door. Darry takes the moment to close his eyes and just feel the slight breeze on his face, breathing in the cool morning air deeply. 

"Aaa! Aaa! Aaa!"

Darry opens his eyes at the croaking of a passing raven, its dark figure standing out against the clear sky. Trish looks up to her left as it flies by her field of vision; she feels another stab of guilt in her heart at the strong reminder of the friend she failed to save.

' I'm so so so sorry for being so weak...'

Trish twists the bandana in her hand while tightly clenching her jaws. At that moment, Trish Jenner swore to never be anyone's prey ever again, to exact vengeance for those who were that thing's prey. She'll drag it to hell with her if she has to.

The raven that flew past the Jenner siblings, keeps his one eye on the condemned meat factory in the distance. He flies past the surrounding crows and ravens gathered around the building. Instinctively, he follows the familiar presence through the many holes in the building, past the dripping rusty pipes, then glides down the stairs where he could fully hear an old upbeat jazz tune playing.

"All those weepers.

How they hypnotize 

Ramada, Ramada, Rama da da"

The one-eyed raven didn't need to look too hard for his favorite person, finding her curled up in the dryest spot she could find. Corbin sat huddled in the nook in the wall, with her back to the wall with one arm around her legs and the other holding a photo.

'I can already tell that I'm gonna be sick of this song.'

She frowns in the direction of where she knows her "mate" is working on Darry's replacement. A small croak catches Corbin's attention, lessening her frown slightly into an almost smile at the small comfort the Corvus brought. 

"Sar si sogodi, Beowulf?"

Beowulf gives another croak and nods his head, confirming to the inhuman woman that all is well for her friends. Some tension visibly leaves Corbin, who then unwraps her arm from her legs to rub a thumb over the necklace she wore. She then looks down at the photo she held in her other hand, the dim candlelight illuminating showing her and Darry celebrating Trish's high school graduation. Those were good times, simpler times, times she knows she can't go back to unless she wishes to bring Darry to an early grave.

"In their eyes"

Corbin furiously rubs her eyes as tears unwillingly starts spilling, the instrumental phase of the song playing in the background. She gives a sniffle before doing her best to keep her expression neutral when spotting the Creeper approaching her. She keeps her chin up as she lets her eyes convey the loathing she holds for him. The only other physical indicator of her scorn being the twitching of her tail. The Creeper doesn't show any reaction to his new mate's displeasure, instead, gesturing to his worktable with a tilt of his head.

"Golly gee, where'd you get those heaters on?

Whoa is me, time to put my cheaters on."

 He then offers a hand to Corbin, who rejects it with a huff and a flick of her tail; however, she still complies and removes herself from the nook. She walks in front of the Creeper who follows close by to their destination, which Corbin huffs at and gets up by herself following him to the table. The inhuman woman mentally wills herself to not turn around and claw out his stolen orbs, but Corbin knew that would be unwise in her current weakened state.

"Jeepers, creepers.... Where'd ya get them peepers? Oh, those weepers.... How they hypnotize Where did ya get those"

When they both come in front of the table, the Creeper then reaches into a small crudely handmade bowl containing two eyes, handing one of them to Corbin before taking the other. He then leans forward to rub his nose into the crook of her neck, inhaling Corbin's scent with a drawn-out satisfied sigh. He lifts his head slightly, his hot putrid breath brushing against her ear with each drawn out, deep and gravely with a hint of a southern accent. 

"You... uphold... vows?"

I willingly accept you as my mate. Spare the other humans here, especially Darius and Patricia. As long as you promise to uphold it, I vow to support, provide, and treat you as you would do for me. Do you accept?

Corbin finds herself clawing her free hand before digging it into her palms. She takes a breath before exhaling.

"You promise then?"

The Creeper retreats his head from his mate's shoulder to give her a firm nod. Both cryptids maintaining intense eye contact, neither breaking it to submit.

"Yessss..."

Corbin rolls the eye she has between her fingers.

"Then I accept."

Corbin then swallows the eye at the same time as The Creeper. She blinks and found that she can now see out of her formerly damaged left eye. The Creeper watches in fascination as Corbin's green left eyes to morph into her natural amber coloration. He gives out a satisfied purr before licking the dried blood around her left eye. Corbin forces herself to return the sound with her own, straining to keep it up as the realization of being stuck with this monstrous brute for both of their long lives.

"Golly where'd ya get those

Where did ya get those eyes?"

A/N: Let me know if y'all would like to read the next installment here on Tumblr. And if you want to read more before I can publish it, the next one is right here on Wattpad. Where you can find me under the username, JazzyHands02.

PREVIOUS

FIRST

#Oddball writes #Oddball art #jeepers creepers #JC #The Creeper #Creeper #oc x canon #Darry Jenner #Trish Jenner #Corbin Delahaye #horror movie #2000s horror #horror films #wattpad #wattpad author

[seasaltandsmoke]

verses

will be expanded when I think of new stuff.

"canon"

I'm aware the anime isn't considered canon in a lot of instances but it is the medium I am most familiar with and have the easiest access to, so I am mostly basing my characterization of Sanji on what we see in the anime. There will be spoilers, as I am following the events of the anime as closely as possible.

age: 19-21 depending on ark

Sanji was born as the fourth child and third son to the ruler of the kingdom of Germa. His father Judge Vinsmoke experimented on his children and genetically altered them in hopes of turning them into super soldiers. However, Sanji did not display any of Judge's desired attributes, causing him and the rest of his family to shun Sanji as a failure, bullying and abusing him for being 'weak'.

Sanji ran away from Germa at a young age, working as a kitchen help on a ship until 'Redleg' Zeff and his pirate crew entered it. A storm caused the ship to sink and after being saved from drowning by the pirate Sanji was left stranded on a rock in the middle of the ocean alongside Zeff with no means of escape. They spent a total of 85 days there and nearly starved to death. They survived, if barely, and Zeff took Sanji under his wing as a cook and raised him under strict rules. He became the Sous Chef of the Baratie and arguably the best cook in the East Blue. From Zeff Sanji also retained his code of honor to never raise a hand (or foot) against a woman.

After Zeff and Sanji build a new home at the Baratie, Sanji grew up in that restaurant, working there nearly every day for the next decade until one fateful day a ship with a Jolly Roger bearing a strawhat arrived, bringing with it a new chapter of his life and an opportunity to chase his dream, the All Blue.

awakened

age: 24~25-ish

self-indulgent very canon-divergent verse where Sanji is on his own, and will eventually seek to either destroy or take over Germa as a means of revenge.

Sanji still grew up at the Baratie, but never met Luffy and the others. When he came of age his biological father Judge sought him out while the Baratie was at shore, letting him know that he was to return to Germa. When Zeff and the other inhabitants of the Baratie tried to oppose them after Sanji told Judge no they were killed on the spot by Sanji's siblings.

When Zeff's liveless body hit the ground, Sanji snapped.

It turned out the genetical enhancements everyone thought had failed to take effect in him only lay dormant up to this point and at last he unshackled himself, embracing his powers, getting lost in his rage. He got the jump on one of his brothers, injuring Niji severely and surprising all of them.

In the ensuing chaos Sanji managed to flee and has been on the run ever since. His father put an official bounty on his head soon after, making it even harder for him to continue running.

Sanji is ever so slowly getting stronger, and he despises it. His bounty increases, too, not by choice, but because of the endless stream of bounty hunters his father sends after him. His last resort is to find a way to the Grand Line, hoping it would allow him to outrun his past.

#{now. I grow wings. and rage}.awakened #{one wing of the pirate king}.canon #.verses

[thehomothings]

Analysis of Kite's conflicting moralities, relationship with death, and the toll reincarnation may take on one's psyche

So, today I decided to compile all the thoughts I have had about Kite's interesting worldview since the first time I saw him into one post, mostly for my own sake, really. If you're familiar with the few posts I've made, you know it's gonna be a mess, but hopefully a comprehensible mess.

A heads up, this is going to be spoiler-heavy, and very much deal with subjects of death and dying as a whole. Also, some of these conclusions are drawn from my own experiences and close brushes with death, I'm not going to go into much detail but it might get personal and definitely dark. I'm not even sure if I can call this a meta-analysis, and I'm obviously no expert, so mayhaps take all of this with a grain of salt.

Been getting into drawing lately, and during the more simple and mindless part of the painstaking process of dotting every single star in this, I let my thoughts wander through the latest part of the fic I'm writing, and I got a better grasp on what exactly made Kite such an elusive character to me.

I'm not quite sure why I got so attached to Kite. Perhaps it was the air of tragedy surrounding him, how despite his sordid past he remained still open and gentle even if outlined by a healthy dose of cynicism.

But sometimes, I think it's the fact that he is so paradoxical. He's brave, yet fears death to such a degree that creates a whole Nen ability around it, is a pacifist yet will not hesitate to spill blood for his own sake or someone else's. Despite the many ultimatums and warnings of 'I will not protect you', he gave his arm and then his life to save Gon and Killua. He approaches each hunt and battle with a clear plan of action in mind, but his Hatsu takes the form of a roulette that gives him random weapons which are never what he wants, but what he seems to need for that exact situation, which he cannot dispel without using. When he draws a weapon, the decision is locked in and his or his opponent's fate is sealed. That's why each time he dubbs his weapon a bad roll. Every time he has to gamble, he sees himself as having run out of luck. When it comes to having to choose between himself and somebody else...well, there had never been a choice. In fact his aversion to using it may feed into its sheer power that we, unfortunately, saw too little of.

Let's go over his very first appearance when he saves Gon from the mother Foxbear.

It's not hard to see the strain searching for Ging has put on him; he's rash, prone to anger and punching a child for daring to get into trouble. In his mind, he's failing at his most important task, has not yet earned the right to call himself a hunter despite being in possession of his very own hunter license.

After killing the mother Foxbear and raging about having done so, he says this interesting line:

So yes, he finds killing for any reason rather irksome as most would do, yet I think something deeper caused him to absolutely lose it in this scene:

He had not been aware of Gon's identity, and despite being an animal lover and a naturalist, he made a choice to save the human instead of allowing nature to run its course. In fact, he says: 'No beast that harms a human must be allowed to live.'

How does one weight one life against another? How is the worth of it determined? The value of life... an impossible choice he's faced with and a choice which he seems to regret to some degree.

The Foxbear cub.

Here, he's speaking from experience, a tangible loss he has felt himself, and a hard and bitter life he does not want to impose on the cub.

His backstory is exclusive to the 2011 anime adaptation but there are hints alluding to it in the manga, for example, the fact that he does not seem to know his birthplace, or:

The choice of words is chilling.

Reading between the lines, one could draw the conclusion that he is an orphan. Something supporting this hypothesis is how he visibly deflates after Gon tells him his parents have (presumably) died.

So we see he is willing to go against his own moral code of not killing as to not doom another living being to the life he led, a lonely, hopeless existence that could barely be called one. He saw it best to put down the cub rather than leave it to die a painful, slow death.

The reason Kite himself isn't as cynical and cold-hearted as one would be after witnessing cruelty in its rawest form is those small crumbs of human kindness which he may have found in Ging.

It was not only a chance at an honorable life being Ging's apprentice gave him, but it also 'saved' him from being broken and twisted into what he hated and worst of all, death.

If we take that one minute of backstory as canon to his character-which I find myself inclined to do- these quirks of his make much more sense. He lived on the run. He lived on the knife's edge between giving up or pushing forwards. He lived as so a wrong move could be the difference between survival and the end.

Between rock and a hard place creates a mentality of black and white, absolute good or extreme evil, this or that. Except in reality, it's much harder than that. Deciding who to save and who to strike down is a heavy burden to bear.

It's almost easy to see how struggling to keep surviving could lend itself to a crippling fear of death and subsequently developing a Nen ability which once more goes against his own moral code in order to give himself a second chance...yet something about it strikes me as unlikely when I look at it this way.

Living life knowing it could end at any moment has the opposite effect, at least for me it did. One comes to accept that it is fleeting and while not eager to let it go, when death eventually and inevitably does come, there is no fighting it.

Especially when there is no hope that tomorrow will be a better day than this one.

Frequent near-death experiences numb one's fear in a way, even if it drives them to take precautions that render it unlikely to happen again and results in c-PTSD, but still, it does. It sparks a certain nihilistic view of 'if it all can end so easily, then what's the point of it all?'

Unless there are things to live for, a sure promise of a better future, and Ging gave Kite that. When he faced the threat of losing his second chance at life:

Really, what else could lead someone to develop the ability of 'the hell I'm going to die like this'?

I think a separate event, an even more brutal near-death experience that almost cost him his life as the hunter he so strived to be set him off to develop the secret roll of Crazy Slots, what I call Roll No.0, Ars moriendi. Unlike other weapons, it cannot come up in random and is directly summoned by him, or better said, summon by his overwhelming will to keep going and hopelessness of fighting a losing battle. I don't believe roll No.3 was the weapon that allowed him to reincarnate. I've named that one Wand of Fortune, a sort of armor instead of an offensive weapon since I find it hard to believe Kite, a Conjurer, would not focus on defences as well, and I will go into both mechanisms of these weapons hopefully in his backstory.

Despite knowing this battle to be a pointless one and being acutely aware of his soon to be demise, he did not immediately draw Ars moriendi, no, he stayed back and fought for the sake of the boys, kept Neferpitou occupied until they could reach safety. We can see evidence of this in the aftermath of the battle that seemed to have gone on until dawn, a torn apart landscape only signaling a fraction of the devastation that was Kite's power unleashed. It still wasn't enough.

In the anime sub I watched, when Gon apologizes to Ging about Kite's death, Ging said a sentence that infuriated me, because it belittled the utter suffering of the NGL trio.

"He would not die in your place." (No screenshot, sorry)

And I remember practically shouting at the screen, screaming 'how could you possibly say that? Of course he did. He absolutely did die in their place. How could you not know your own apprentice? Why-'

It was only last night that it hit me why Ging would say that.

Once upon a time, maybe Kite would not have given his life for anybody under any circumstances, even if he had a way out of it all. He would still need to die to come back to life.

His Thanatophobia could be attributed to the (possibly untreated) PTSD of the near-death experience in his later life, being so certain of dying that finding himself alive afterwards drove him to never want to go through that again. He quieted his fear by creating a sort of a loophole, that even if he lost the battle he would remain. Ging remembered that, but as evidence shows, something changed. Maybe he healed a bit, perhaps growing up dulled his fear to a certain degree, but eventually when it came down to his life or another's, he didn't choose himself.

Now, I can hear you saying 'but he didn't die, so what are you going on about??' And so I reply: Yes, he is alive, but he did die. He experienced that painful, horrible moment of staring death in the eyes and thinking 'This is it, this is the end', went through the actual process of having his soul removed from his body. And that moment stretches into infinity, ten lifetimes condensed into the mere seconds before oblivion.

Dying isn't so hard if one stays dead.

It's not so easy to open one's eyes and find oneself alive again after that, no matter how much that is the heart's desire. It's difficult, nigh-impossible to reconcile with life and walk amongst the living when everything had been so final, when death had been accepted to its fullest.

So Kite awakens, the twin of Meruem and back from the dead, his mind and identity both intact and fractured. In that he is Kite is no mistaking, yet he is not the same gentle pacifist whose first reaction upon sensing a monster's aura was to shield two kids from it at the cost of his arm.

I don't think many of you are familiar with Zoroastrian ideology, but Togashi is known for loving his religious imagery, and it's not only Christianism he derives inspiration from (evidence of which can be seen all over Kite's character and resurrection).

In Zurvanism-a branch of Zoroastrianism- there is talk of the twin spirits: Ahura Mazda -epitome of all that is good- and Ahriman -epitome of all that is evil-, the parent god Zurvin decides that the firstborn may rule in order to bring "heaven, hell, and everything in between."

Upon becoming aware of this fact, Ahriman forcibly tears through the womb to emerge first. Sounding familiar yet?

Zurvan relents to this turn of events only on one condition: Ahriman is given kingship for 9000 years, and then Ahura Mazda may rule for eternity.

Meruem ruled for 40 days, his death leaving the throne vacant for ant Kite, wearing a dead girl's face and seeming to be brewing some nefarious plan. No more is there any sign of that unrelenting pacifism and the sanctity of life he held so high, losing his own may have only served to show him how meaningless the pain and suffering he went through had been, dying only to be reborn as a member of the species that killed him. It may be that he has no desire to rule over the remaining Chimera ants or create an army of his own-

Yet I dread to think what a broken mind possessing limitless power might do to the world.

And that's it. If you made it this far, thank you for reading! If you found it interesting, stay tuned, as I think a lot and I will make it your problem.

#Cw: talks of death and PTSD #When I say I unknowingly projected onto him #I can't tell if writing this was cathartic or torturous #and I gave myself heart palpitations so this is enough for today #And yes I refer to ant Kite by he/him pronouns because misgendering him on the account of his body being afab is just ignorant #even if I think skrunkly's genderqueer af and actually wouldn't mind she/her #still i wanna push the trans ant kite agenda #So yes this is how I unknowingly picked up Kite as a coping mechanism even if out attitudes towards death are practically opposites #don't mind your grandpa trauma dumping #What I'm saying is get ant Kite therapy before he sinks the world #I love reimagining Kite as a villain and I don't know why #Kite hxh #hxh kite #kite hunter x hunter #kaito hxh #hxh #hunter x hunter #meta analysis #theories #fic rambles #Icarus waffles #Kitkat #gon freccs #Ging freecss

[fe-sekai]

Fire Emblem: Sekai - what ive got so far

this is in regards to my fire emblem/project sekai au that as of right now is some drawings and 1 chapter of a badly written fic, however that may change in time so i'll keep this specific post updated as i come up with stuff

i was inspired by this fic which im unsure if the author is on tumblr at all, but if i find their username i'll link it too

the basic premise is that Ichika is a lord, and Mafuyu is the antagonist you would see most often, and the rest of the groups are all playable units with different classes and roles in the story. From thar reference point i kept going. Im approaching this as if it were an actual fire emblem game, but not like a New Entry or anything, maybe like a hand-held inbetween the gba games and awakening. I'm mostly borrowing from sacred stones, awakening and fates, maybe with a little shadows of valentia sprinkled in, but i think you'll see a lot more of awakening in this whole thing bc its the one i played the most. Im not really familiar with 3 houses so i wont try to incorporate things from it unless its like a staple of the fe franchise

of course anyone is free to send me asks of things they feel might fit with what ive got going on, so the askbox is open¡¡

to give you an overview of what this is looking like, im gonna go character by character, starting with the bands, then secondary characters, and finally original characters, with a quick description of what i think their role is and their class. I'm skipping the virtual singers right now because its the group im the least sure about their role in the story, and i think they're a bit scattered, so im gonna try and make a follow-up later.

LEO/NEED

Ichika: The heir of her kingdom, the lord whose story you follow. The future of the land rests on her shoulders. She has a peculiar fighting style in which her evasiveness is pretty flawless, and she has a lot of stamina, but she overthinks the retaliation, and that gets her into trouble. She is orphaned in like the middle of the story when it all breaks down, and i think that'd be the catalyst for her to take a less defensive approach so you would see more of the continent after that. She tries her best to be very serious but still has a child-like side to her that comes out mostly with her childhood friends (saki, honami and shiho, ofc). Her stats would be quite balanced for the most part, but her speed and skill are pretty high.

Saki: the daughter of one of ichika's tutors, she lives in the castle with her family because of an arrangement her mother had with the king and queen, so Saki could be treated by the best healers of the land. At the time of the story, she just got healthy enough to be out on missions and such. She is training to be a mage, and has a lot of magic potential, but has very little hp and defense, but her resistance is a lot better

Honami: daughter of a noble, also frequents the castle, for education in her case. Ichika has more lessons than her, but they share most of them. She is a healer who has decent hp, and a very high skill so she is very accurate once she promotes to a more offensive class.

Shiho: daughter of an important general, trains with Ichika everyday and is her rival. She has never been able to beat Ichika when they train, and gets really frustrated with her when she is in full dodge mode. She is a fighter, and has a lot of strength and would be very good at hittting crits, but her defense is lacking.

MORE MORE JUMP!

Minori: a girl living in a small village in Ichika's country, with dreams of becoming a sword fighter and defending the weak, bringing smiles to everyone. She has a history of actually trying to defend her village but more often than not someone has to go rescue her. She's the Kliff archetype (like donnel from fe13 or mozu from fe14), so she would start with low stats but eventually would be a pretty powerful unit. For her promotion, i'm thinking swordsman and pegasus knight to be her possible branches, maybe even fighter or armor knight, but i think she would have low magic so i dont think she would have any magical branches.

Haruka: she is a former pegasus knight, that after an accident which led to her pegasus to be flightless, decided to quit the order. She then takes up mercenary work, being a sword fighter. She meets Minori while at work and Haruka kind of takes her under her wing after rescuing her. She's very balanced, and has a lot of hp so she would be a bit of a wall, one of those units that weakens the enemy for someone else to take the exp.

Airi: wyvern rider, was good friends with Haruka before she quit. Originally she wanted to be a pegasus knight, but it turns out wyverns are the only animals she isn't terribly allergic to. Her wyvern's name is Cherche. Her defense would be very high, but she would have bad luck.

Shizuku: the model pegasus knight. She's the best of the knights in training, and everyone there admires her. She is good friends with Airi, but has to be careful not to bring with her any stray feathers with her by accident, but sometimes she keeps them on purpose as a joke. Her speed would be pretty high up, and she would have a lot of magic potential.

VIVID BAD SQUAD

Kohane: her parents are usually very supportive, but she was only allowed to learn how to fight if she had the most protection available, so she is an armor knight! her head doesn't quite reach the helmet in the armor suit, so its very easy to knock it off, wich would turn into a rumour that Ichika's army has a headless knight, a creature that defies death. As a typical armor knight she has super high defense, and is very slow, but has an outstanding luck.

An: the daughter of a very famous mercenary, Ken, that finds herself living in the castle after her father suddenly retired to work in training new recruits for Ichika's army. She meets Kohane on a random spar they did, and instantly decided they had to train together from then on. An is a cavalier and wields a lance, and has pretty bad magic resistance. She is one half of the cain/able archetype.

Akito: a cavalier who is very excited to train under Ken. His origins are pretty unknown, but he has lived and worked in the castle since he was a kid. He is the other half of the cain/able archetype, and wields a sword. Has more magic resistance and magic potential than An.

Toya: the son of a very well respected mage. He does show talent for magic, probably more than his father, but thinks he is better suited for the fighter class. His father of course doesn't like it, but Toya goes on to train to be a fighter anyways, so their relationship is strained. He hangs out with Akito a lot in th castle. He has a remarkable magic resistance for a fighter and a higher mag than normal, so he'd be very good with a bolt axe (maybe he even promotes to a healer unit like a war monk from fe13)

WONDERLANDS X SHOWTIME

Tsukasa: a pegasus knight, like his father before him, determined to be the best knight of them all, known by all and written about so that his adventures prevail. In his very first solo mission he is hit by a storm and lands in a deserted island, and is rescued by a little pirate who annoys him a lot, but joins her noble cause. He's particularly strong for a pegasus knight, sacrificing a bit of his speed. He also has a talent for magic but not very much, however it does give him decent magic resistance.

Emu: a little pirate who escaped her evil pirate father once her nice pirate grandfather passed away. She was followed by 2 guards her grandfather had tasked with her safety before his death and is now roaming the seas, looking for more crew for her little ship so they can defend innocents! look I just really like pirates in fire emblem, i love that they look so goofy and that they swim so good they can fight in water. Emu would have decent defense and strength, but she wouldnt be very accurate, and i want her to have her own hammer, just for fun, and it would help her accuracy. She's the only one who can wield it because its very easy to disassemble it by accident.

Nene: an aspiring actress and songstress, the very first person Emu and Tsukasa rescue after their alliance. She joins them on the premise of "these guys are gonna die if i dont help them" but its mostly because she has so much fun with them and wants to help their cause. She is the dancer unit of the game, and she uses magic to attack. She would be very frail for the most part, but would be a very good magic tank if you trained her right.

Rui: wyvern rider from Mafuyu's country. He is recruited later in the game, about halfway, and you can only recruit him if Tsukasa, Nene and Emu talk to him. He is very inventive and is working with mixing magic and mechanical systems, with some small success so far, and is this ability that Mafuyu recruited him for. As for stats, he would be very phisically strong, and have very high mag for a wyvern rider, but not much in the defense or resistance. He would be very evasive however, and have very high crit chances.

NIGHTCORD AT 25:00

Kanade: she is a healer for the group who also uses magic. She lives in Mafuyu's country, and they have meetings to help Yuki, who they don't know is the princess of the country, develop some new tecnologies, mixing magic with mechanics, to help people in need, or so they all think. She was trained by Yuki but she has a natural talent for magic and healing. She would have low defense, she would be best used at a distance.

Mafuyu: as Mafuyu she is the princess of her country, but her parents are very secretive about her so the people don't really know what she looks like. As Yuki she brings a group together to help her innovate and invent things behind her parents back. She also has their group do skirmishes with the people of Ichika's country. She is trying to tap into the power of one dragon god using machines made with Rui's help, but she tells them all it's for the good of the country's less fortunate. She is a bow knight, with low-ish defense but very high speed and accuracy.

Ena: Akito's sister who got left behind when he ran away from the country when they were little. A dark mage, with a lot of potential, but is overshadowed by her family who is known to be very graceful and powerful group of dark mages. Yuki trains her to be more agressive in a way her family never would, it makes her magic all the more brutal. Very high magic, very high resistance, a bit higher strength than normal for a dark mage.

Mizuki: a wyvern rider who wields tomes and axes. They taught themself to wield the axe but Yuki taught them magic and attacking from a distance. They're the second most accurate of the group after Yuki, and they're the only one to take chances to attack upclose. They're the only one close to their family. They would be better with magic than with axes, and they have a better resistance than they do defense.

oof,,,, that was A Lot,,,, anyway

SECONDARY CHARACTERS

(what i mean by that is that they're secondary or mentioned in project sekai but would be playable/featured in the au)

Ken: in charge of training new recruits, retired from mercenary work because he sensed a war was coming, and he wanted to help the king and queen as much as he could. His class would be mercenary and he would be kind of a Jagen, but with a longer usefulness like Frederick from fe13.

Saki and Tsukasa's mom: she is Ichika's music and dance tutor, and honami's magic tutor, and an old friend of the king and queen. She is a talented mage, and a playable character later on. Well-rounded, defense stronger than normal.

Saki and Tsukasa's dad: a retired falcon knight, who works in the castle's stables and training recruits from time to time. He inspired Tsukasa to become a pegasus knight himself. NPC, but is featured in the plot at some points.

Mafuyu's mom: the queen of the country neighboring Ichika's. She is blind and wears a blindfold. Seemingly very sweet and loving but is quite ruthless in her rule, very strict and with a rigid class system. NPC, maybe final boss.

Ichika's mom: queen of the country, a warrior first and queen second. Not much of a diplomat, but is very honest. She would have her own class, and would wield a lance. At the beginning she seems like the most powerful unit so its shocking when she is killed.

Ichika's dad: king of the country, very soft spoken and kind, has a way of finding common ground with just about anyone. Has his own class, wields tomes and staffs. He has less defense so once his wife is killed he is pretty much done for.

(i kinda want ichika to be able to promote to either queen or king)

toya's dad: a bit of a magical jagen, but you get him on the later half of the game. super high magic stat, but not much growth rate.

Emu's dad: a minor boss in the first half of the game. You confiscate his ship to sail to another land and if Emu defeats him there is special dialogue.

Emu's siblings: they're all crew members and if Emu fights them, they all have special dialogue with her. Theyre mean to her ):

Kanade's dad: has some illness that Kanade is trying her best to train to cure while she works with Yuki and everyone else.

for now thats all i have, but as i play i might add some other secondary proseka characters.

now onto

ORIGINAL CHARACTERS

(these are characters that are not really mentioned in project sekai as far as i can tell, so i took the liberty to give them roles, because a cast of teens is not enough for a fire emblem game)

Kigu and Rumi: siblings who worked for Emu's grandfather in his ship, tasked with Emu's safety after his passing. They're both pirates and have pretty similar stats, only one has more strength and skill and the other more defense and hp. They practically raised Emu alongside her grandfather.

Nene's mom: a scholar and the closest thing to a doctor youre gonna find, doesn't use magic at all. Also very interested in mechanical and wind-up machinery. Her class would be mechanist, like in fe14, but it would be more western i think.

Nene's dad: a tailor and a mage, makes clothes for his beautiful wife who has trouble finding clothes that fit her body right, and also does it for himself, since he has the same problem. Well rounded, not much potential but can be promoted and branched out.

this is all i have for now, but im gonna look into siblings and such of other characters, since a lot of them, like minori and airi, have siblings that are only mentioned, so i could maybe do something with that, but thats gonna come later.

as i mentioned before, if you think of an idea id be happy to incorporate it or discuss it, and even if i end up thinking it wouldnt fit, id still like to read about it, and if you feel like im totally wrong, feel free to make your very own fire emblem project sekai au!! i'd love to see it :D

i dont know if anyone will actually read this far down, but if you did, thank you! I really appreciate it! i hope you have a nice day!

#project sekai colorful stage #hatsune miku colorful stage #au #proseka au #fire emblem au #fire emblem sekai #written #long post

[john-langley-bristol-blogger]

Merry Hexmass, one and all. Saturday 25th December 2021. 5.00pm.

A huge thanks to readers and followers alike for being there, and reading this stuff. As per usual it's been a quiet Christmas day like others before. My Christmas present was a bill from my phone provider, which of course I was delighted with, and Christmas greetings from an assortment of retailers I've purchased goods from over the past twelve months with the added bonus of a sales offer if I order now. So, business as usual it is then.

I'm not complaining as I'm probably far too pagan in belief to embroil myself in the whole Christmas vibe of conditioned and accepted normality of it, given that it is only one day of 365 others when not in a leap year.

Neither am I someone who expects a lot out of life, I kind of roll with it on a day-to-day basis. Yes, of course like human beings do, I have to plan for certain things along the way, otherwise though I - to some extent at least, allow fate to provide opportunities for me because mostly I believe that we never get the things we ask for in life, we only ever get what's best for us at the time, and this is something I've always had good fortune within so many different areas of my life. Everything we do and everyone we meet provides us with a teaching/learning experience that enables our continued growth. Even the toughest lessons are those we should be wise enough to accept we are blessed with to work through.

I don't believe in the perceptions of 'right or 'wrong' because there are only learning opportunities and how we grow from them to be better, and hopefully, wiser beings which ultimately counts. For we ultimately answer to no higher power other than that of our own higher consciousness of inner spirituality, because fundamentally we are first and foremost all just spiritual beings trying to be human while inhabiting these genetic spacesuits we wear for the duration of our individual lives on this Earthly plane.

Within the past twenty-four hours, I've been privileged to have engaged with two amazing beings, who in their own very unique ways have taken me aback. The first came about yesterday when someone who reads my blog posts somehow fell into my life on another site quite randomly, and it wasn't until we got speaking that it came to light she was a reader, perhaps even a follower. I have a feeling she will be reading this at some point so I won't enter into the realms of sounding fawningly sycophantic. However, I will say that she was and is the most beautiful breath of fresh air to appear out of seemingly nowhere as if fate had dealt its hand and it was meant to be.

All I can really say is that she has an unmistakeable 'soul.' During our conversation, I felt a depth to her, a genuine realism, and a heartwarming humility and honesty from which to me she shone like a beacon. It's a very rare occasion indeed which touches me in such a way and with a connection that comes on in my head like a lightbulb. I can say no more other than our time together online I found to be as interesting as it was inspiring, thrilling even, and with hand on heart I honestly cannot recall such an interesting time with someone since my previous partner, the psychology student who I wrote my book 'The Awakening' about that's published on Amazon/Kindle, and my anonymous reader here on 'Death's Door Diaries' I find to be equally and potentially, as interesting and inspiring.

Fast forward to today, and anyone who is by now familiar with me will know that every day I go out for fresh air, grab a hot chocolate- or three, and people watch, as this provides me with a time of reflection and thought, creative time which inspires more generally what the subject of the days' blog post will be. Hail, rain, sleet, snow, storm, and sun, it doesn't matter what the weather throws at me it's important to take my daily trip out through spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Today was gifted to me because the owner of the cafe left his home and came into town to unlock his business to make me a hot chocolate, so I wouldn't miss out - even on Christmas Day. He made it, gave it to me with love and kindness, and then locked up again and went home.

I'm still speechless, and so on this happy note and with nothing else to say except 'what a human' I will sign off until I have the words to say again, other than I am blessed, and thank you both.

#john langley #bristol #john langley author #john langley blog #john langley bristol writer #john langley tumblr #deaths door diaries bristol #death's door diaries #christmas 2021 #christmas #xmas #random acts