#i've never been one for 'manifesting' but...

[patchwork-crow-writes]

Ralsei is the Literal Personification of Abandonment And Self-Esteem Issues - and it's all because Kris threw him away in their childhood.

Been a while since I've done a long-form essay on Ralsei Deltarune! Chapter 3 and 4 really blew the doors wide open on this guy - how he sees himself, how he relates to other darkners, his place in the prophecy (and his attempts to subvert it), how he echoes the goatlike Dreemurrs but isn't a carbon copy of them, and his relationship with Kris Dreemurr particularly, entirely divorced from the SOUL/player possessing them. I've been swirling it all in my head over the past two weeks, trying to figure out what it all says about him, alongside what scant knowledge was established in prior chapters.

This is the result: a thesis that will lay out my vision on who and what Ralsei truly is, why he's manifested in this way, why he dotes on Kris specifically, and how everything ties together to explain some of his more... questionable actions in the chapters we have so far. Altogether, I want to provide context for his actions in previous chapters, his beliefs about himself and darkner-kind in present chapters, and where the future chapters might take his character.

Buckle in, this is going to be a LONG one.

Part 1: "I just wonder what... being "Ralsei-like" even is...?"

Before Chapters 3 and 4 came out, the question of "Who or what is Ralsei" was a rather open-ended one. Concrete evidence was scant, and what little could be gleaned from optional dialogue or careful observation didn't shed much light on anything. For every point that indicated Ralsei was Kris's horned headband, another would refute that and suggest he was created whole cloth as a character for the player's enjoyment. Was he a naive, inexperienced youth struggling to deal with his friends' big emotions, or an uncaring gamemaster who was determined to keep events on the rails? Perhaps he was a creation of Gaster - a Goner, like those transient souls we sometimes see in Undertale if we're lucky. Or maybe he was a Titan Spawn, rebelling against his ordained purpose and using his knowledge for the forces of light.

With the new chapters, what we got instead was far more interesting and compelling than any of us could have possibly imagined. What we got... was a scared, lonely, sad boy, burdened with knowledge he didn't ask for, raised in isolation from anything approaching care or compassion, desperate for love and camaraderie but never feeling like he truly deserved it. Alone so long he doesn't know who or what he is, so conditioned by prophecy that he sees himself as little more than a playing piece on a board much grander and more important than himself.

Yet, for the sake of his friends and their happiness... he tries to defy the fate set out before him. Write a happier ending for them... but not for himself. Never for himself.

Because he's a darkner. And darkners don't matter.

Part 2: "Just forget about us and make some real friends."

You do not have to play Deltarune long to get a sense of how Ralsei sees himself in relation to lightners (See: literally anything he says to Kris - we'll visit this later on)... or, for that matter, how he sees darkners as a whole in relation to lightners. Everything is framed through this lens for him, even all the way back in chapter 1:

And chapter 2:

All of which culminates in the bombshell revelation at the beginning of Chapter 3 - Darkners are nothing more than inanimate objects given life by some sort of "meta-darkness", permitted to exist only in a liminal, "indistinct" state of being. For all intents and purposes, darkners are entirely imaginary... and Ralsei is entirely, painfully aware of that fact, even as he's explaining it to Kris and Susie.

Astute players will have noticed clues indicating this truth, and even that Ralsei himself has known about it this whole time - particularly when it comes to getting Kris to gather up all the objects in the Abandoned Classroom to bring back to his Castle Town.

However, the implications of this knowledge that Ralsei possessed, or whether it affected him in any capacity, weren't fully apparent until he tried to "console" Tenna at the end of chapter 3:

"Mr. Tenna… I… understand how you feel. To want to be… important. To be… useful. Perhaps… you might not be watched much anymore… But… that doesn't make you a failure, Tenna! You've brought smiles, light into Lightner's lives… to Kris's family and friends, for so long. So, there's nothing to be ashamed of.If… that ever comes to an end. Darkners.. all become obsolete eventually. But we aren't "real", Tenna. We shouldn't make Lightners worry about what happens to us. It'd just… make them unhappy, wouldn't it?"

This speech is, for want of a better term, a trainwreck. If it was intended to provide comfort and solace, it did the total opposite, and it was only thanks to Susie's timely intervention that Tenna was able to rally. But what it says about how Ralsei feels about his station as a darkner - as the Prince of the Dark, no less - speaks volumes. Stated plainly, he sees the relationship between lightners and darkners as a purely functional, transactional one, where darkners are destined to amuse, entertain and bring happiness to their lightner betters. Once they can no longer sustain that function, for whatever reason... it is then their destiny to be cast out, disposed of, left behind and forgotten. In fact, he goes further than this, implying that darkners as a whole should be GRATEFUL to have been useful in any capacity, and that they should not lament their fate, in case they upset the lightners they are supposed to serve.

To most anyone else, this would be a horrifying portrayal of existence - but to Ralsei, it is his lodestone, the guiding principle that informs his every action. A true darkner would be happy to have served so faithfully, so he thinks... it's not as if he or any of the others are real, in any case, so what they think doesn't even matter in the first place. He will be useful to his friends - his masters - for as long as he can serve, in whatever capacity he can serve.

And Ralsei will condemn himself to abject misery in order to do it.

Part 3: "If anyone's going to hurt... let it... just be me."

To call Ralsei "self-sacrificing" is a level of understatement that borders on the tragically comic. He constantly falls over himself offering his services to Kris and Susie, ensuring they are happy, trying to protect them from things that might make them sad. He sees Lancer "transform" into a stool ONCE, then takes that transformation for himself so he can be a literal object for his friends to use at their convenience - even when there's an actual perfectly usable stool nearby.

(For the record, I don't kinkshame. Go off prince!)

Want more? Okay - Ralsei is so preoccupied with making cakes for Kris and Susie, but has never even attempted to try one for himself - and is then ashamed at how much he enjoys it.

Still not convinced? Okay - Ralsei goes to all the trouble to create bespoke rooms for Kris and Susie in his castle, AND all the major chapter antagonists (except King lol), decorates them all to their occupants' liking... and then we stumble across his room in chapter 4 and it's completely empty. Not even a chair to sit on - Nothing except a small window looking out into the world.

Ah, but luckily, there IS something he feels like he deserves: pain. Physical pain, mental pain, emotional pain... he's such a glutton for punishment that he won't settle for his own pain, but put himself in ever-greater anguish for the sake of his friends... and smile while doing it.

He'll suffer the crushing burden of knowledge, the tragedy of the final prophecy, Kris and Susie thinking he's weird, the PLAYER thinking he's suspicious, being belittled, demeaned, looked down upon and ignored... he'll take it all upon his own shoulders, and not once dare to complain about it.

And for what? To risk alienating the very people he cares so much for? To risk Susie's anger and frustration at his constant pussyfooting around difficult subjects? To one day take on too much, to watch as his careful facade shatters and crumbles around him, to burn himself out so utterly that he ceases to be of any use to anyone?

Good thing he's friends with Susie, right?

...right?

Part 4: "How can she be so kind...? How...?"

Susie sets herself in opposition to Ralsei's worldview from the very start of their adventure, rejecting her status as a hero and walking off to do her own thing. She rebuffs his lofty speeches about "prophecies" and "purpose", choosing instead to trust in what her senses are telling her in the present moment.

And she has very little patience for his more... self-denying tendencies. She'll insist he's real to her and Kris at every turn, she'll pledge to get him furniture for his room and make it the most "bad-ass room in the castle". She'll cut over his "motivational" speech to Tenna and replace it with her own, insisting that "someone wants you" and "no-one's getting thrown away".

Even when faced with the inevitability of the Final Prophecy - the tragic ending that Ralsei has tried so hard to stop her from learning about - she refuses to bow to it, shattering it into a million pieces and reassuring him it won't ever come to pass - because they won't let it.

So it is that Susie's example sets a fire in Ralsei's heart. He finds himself endlessly inspired by her, not in spite of her crass, irreverent manner, but because of it. Everything she does, she does because she WANTS to, not because anyone told her to. And that fills Ralsei with hope - hope, however dim, that perhaps they can defy the cruel fate set out for them.

But hope alone isn't enough.

Part 5: "Darkners... all become obsolete eventually."

This line, taken from the aforementioned trainwreck of a rousing speech to Tenna, perfectly encapsulates everything that Ralsei believes about himself, about darkners in general, and about the way things must be. And it stabs right at the heart of his trauma.

Because he has already experienced it firsthand.

This is the point where we must venture into conjecture - everything I've established over the past few minutes has laid the groundwork for my theory on what Ralsei is, why he's the way he is, and how we might predict how he'll behave in future chapters.

Remember Toriel talking about Kris's old horned headband back in chapter 1? How they asked her when their horns would grow in? How they wore it for months, before it suddenly, mysteriously disappeared? Those horns played a role in Kris's life, and an important one at that - they helped to validate their feelings around their identity, allowed them to feel more akin to their adoptive family, more like a monster and less like... an outsider. To have lost or otherwise misplaced such a treasured object would be unthinkable.

Now... have you noticed the way that Ralsei will fawn over Kris specifically throughout their adventures together? How he'll doggedly follow in Kris's shadow no matter what they do or how they act? How he'll excuse them any behaviour, no matter if he'd rebuke another for that same behaviour? How he'll go out of his way to reassure them, console them? Validate their identity, their talents, their choices - to an almost obsessive degree?

Put these points side-by-side, and you start to see how they correlate with each other - how Ralsei's behavior in the present follows on from the headband's role in Kris's past. It is the strongest indication we have that Ralsei's light world object is more likely than not to be that very same horned headband. Indeed, the parallels between them are so strong that once you see them, it's almost impossible to believe otherwise. It neatly explains Ralsei's almost crush-like obsession with Kris, his need to validate their identity at all costs, and his acute embarrassment and joy at being seen as their equal.

But my assertion goes further than this anodyne observation: I assert that, at some point after wearing the headband for months, Kris realised that they were NEVER going to be a true monster, a true Dreemurr... that they'd always be shackled to their humanity, no matter what. And so, far from accidentally losing the headband, they made the conscious decision to throw it away once they realised the lie it represented. It had served its purpose, brought joy to a child who felt like they didn't belong... and then its purpose was used up, and it was discarded.

Abandoned.

At a stroke, this explains all of Ralsei's strange behaviours - his obsessive need to be useful, his almost-slavish devotion to the happiness of his lightner friends, his twisted and utilitarian views on darkner-kind, and his own catastrophic lack of self esteem. He is TERRIFIED of being abandoned again, and will do anything in his power to remain useful, to not become obsolete and unwanted... and yet at exactly the same time, he sees it as his inevitable fate. One day, his use will run out, and without warning he'll be cast back into obscurity. And try as he might, there is nothing Ralsei can do about it.

He failed in his purpose once before... and he could just as easily fail it again.

Part 6: "Hearing that from you... I might just..."

I've mentioned before that Susie attempts to counteract Ralsei's narrative that neither he nor the other darkners are "real", and that none of them really matter in the grand scheme of things. She loudly proclaims the opposite, any chance she gets, asserts her profound believe that Ralsei IS real, and that they ARE friends. And not just Ralsei - her concern and compassion extends to ALL darkners. It's sweet and touching, and brings the two of them closer together.

And none of it has any effect on Ralsei's view of the world whatsoever. To him, Susie's grand platitudes are just that - they can enkindle hope in his heart that their grim future can be averted, and they can bring comfort in a moment of insecurity... but they alone cannot heal his trauma. Because while he DOES desperately want to hear those words spoken to him, it's not Susie he wants to hear them from.

It's Kris.

And we know this because there are two instances where Kris CAN say something approaching those words to him - once in chapter 2's Acid Tunnel, where they can say "It's nice that Ralsei is Ralsei", and again in Chapter 4, upon discovering Ralsei's unfurnished room, they can say "Please be yourself". And the way he reacts in both instances is telling:

The takeaway here is that, no matter how ardently Susie proclaims and validates Ralsei's fundamental identity and existence, it won't be until Kris echoes that sentiment, freely and of their own volition, that he'll begin to truly believe it for himself. It has to come from Kris - the one who had once needed him to validate their own identity, before they unknowingly consigned him to loneliness and bereavement.

Perhaps at that point, Ralsei's trauma can finally begin to heal from the damage that was done to him.

Part 7: "My own desires. My own... fears."

So. Now that we've reached this point... where does Ralsei's character arc go from here? How can we use what we've built up here to try and anticipate where Chapter 5 might take him, and how his relationships with Kris, Susie, and everyone else will change as a result?

We see glimmers of what it could look like in his talk with Kris, discussing him coming to discover his own likes and dislikes, his own selfish desires... contrasted with the "hobbies" he took up just as a way to further serve his lightner friends, and the internal conflict he feels at such:

I don't really have any hobbies, or interests. Baking, sewing, singing... those are all just... things I thought to do... for you two. But recently... I'm starting to feel like... like I'm developing my own opinions. My own likes. My own dislikes. My own desires. My own... fears. ...please... tell me... should I... Should a... Darkner... be feeling like this?

Do I think this means he'll one day abandon the persona he's so carefully curated up to this point? No - rather, I believe he will iterate and build upon it. His edges may become a little coarser, but fundamentally he'll still be the same caring, considerate fluffy boy we all know and love.

But that isn't to say there won't be bumps in the road along the way.

I brought up Chapter 5 specifically because of a few interesting hints about what it will entail. In Susie's trial against Gerson, he mentions the events of each chapter we've run into up to this point, and also this hint for Chapter 5's content:

Now, most people will see this and infer that this "jealousy" will be from Asgore, upon discovering that Toriel has shacked up with Sans. And while I do believe he will have his part to play, allow me to add another potential point to consider: I think RALSEI will be the one to experience this burning jealousy for the first time - and in its newfound intensity, make a crucial mistake that could wind up making things worse down the line.

Jealousy that he cannot be at peace with his purpose like the other darkners seem to be.

Jealousy that it took him so long to realise he could start to be his own person, independent of the lightners.

Jealousy that Susie's healing capabilities are beginning to eclipse his own, his "unique talent".

Jealousy that he cannot have what everyone else takes for granted - a normal, carefree life.

Jealousy that Kris seems to prefer Susie over him.

I believe that chapter 5 will be the point in the story where Ralsei's sense of purpose and obligation crashes headlong into his new, burgeoning wants as his own person, and he'll finally begin to reckon with the events of his past... how he was loved and cherished only to be thrown away without warning. The sadness and the bewilderment of such a traumatic event... but also, the resentment, the bitterness.

What had I done wrong to deserve such treatment? Why did I have to suffer like this? Why couldn't I have been kept, even if just as a memento?

Why won't Kris look at me the way they look at Susie...?

How can I get them to see me the way they used to?

Why can't we go back to the way things were before?

And where else would such an epiphany take place but the very space where another person struggles with their own questions about the past, and where every flower is seemingly grown for the sole purpose of proving his undying love to his former partner, in the hope that things may one day go back to the way they were before...?

Indeed, once you see the parallels between Ralsei and Asgore, they're almost impossible to unsee. And the more I think about it, the more certain I become that this is where Ralsei's character arc is progressing towards - a reckoning with the past, a lamentation at the present... and a resentment that threatens to burn down the very future he's fought for so valiantly up to this point.

And oh, what an inferno it will create.

Closing Thoughts: "I want to believe... it can change!"

Ralsei is a character who has been largely misunderstood by the fandom at large for a long time. Part of my motivation for writing this essay was to help steer people towards a more nuanced understanding of his behaviours, his role in the story, his potential past and future, and his strange, almost limerent connection with Kris. The scenario I outlined in the previous part was an attempt to show what I believe would be the most interesting and compelling direction for his character to go in, based on everything that had been established in both the game and my speculation up to that point. I hope that I have succeeded on this point.

I should say right now, for the purposes of clearing up any potential misunderstandings: I don't believe this potential is in any way indicative that Ralsei's gonna turn "evil" - just that he's a young person suffering a great deal from immense trauma and crushing responsibility, who doesn't have much experience with people, or even his own feelings, and who has the potential to lose control at a crucial moment. That doesn't make him evil - it makes him a person.

Likewise with Kris "abandoning" Ralsei - that act doesn't make them evil. Indeed, how could they have possibly known the significance of that action prior to reuniting with him years later? How many precious toys have you thrown away in your lifetime, and does the act of doing so make you some kind of villain? Perhaps in a world where darkners have the potential to exist... but otherwise, the question is ridiculous and doesn't merit discussion.

I suppose what I wanted to achieve by writing this essay is to allow people to see in Ralsei what I see in him - a flawed, tragic character, struggling to make sense of himself and his place in the world; to love and trust people as he finds them, not as he wishes them to be; to have the courage and belief to let go of the injustices of the past, and to face the uncertain future without fear... wherever it may take him.

I see a great deal of my own prior struggles in Ralsei. It's why I strongly believe that, if not actually autistic, he has been written with autistic coding in mind - the masking, the people-pleasing, the lack of finer social mores... but those same traits that endear him to me seemed to repel a great many others. I don't want a repeat of the chapter 2 times, I don't want his character to be defined by a misunderstanding like it has been up to this point. I hope that, after reading this, you all feel the same way.

Thank you so much for reading <3

special thanks to @dawnthefluffyduck and @bleakoutlo for their input and suggestions! :D

[love-takes-work]

So, I've seen alot of predictions/wish lists for LOTS, thuss far but one character(s) seems to be always left out of the the discussion.

Of course that being the Rutile Twins, which it DOES make sense since they were the least developed members of the crew, but it really sucks since they were one of my favs.

Is there anything in particular that you would like to see from them or what do you think their role is gonna be?

I personally see them as the groups moral compass (not that the rest are bad people or anything like that). They seem to be the most proactive when it comes to helping people in need like when they first helped Steven and Lars and later they were the first to refuse Lars offer to escape to Earh and leave him behind.

I've noticed they get left out when it comes to loving on the Off Colors Crew! But honestly, we spent so little time with all of them that each was boiled down to a specific trait that defined them. And what's interesting is each is summed up by a SPEECH PATTERN. Padparadscha speaks late. Fluorite speaks slowly. Rhodonite speaks through anxiety and fear. And the Rutile twins . . . repeat each other's phrases in slightly different voices.

Unlike the Fusions they hang out with, the Rutile twins are always together but aren't a Fusion. But we've never seen them in disagreement, EVER. I would love to see some of the dynamic I've sometimes seen in coverage of conjoined twins: what makes the twins different? ARE they two people? (I think they are, but it hasn't been expressly discussed.)

Do they have separate preferences sometimes? Do they fight? What happens if they disagree on something fundamental? Have they ever come up with individual names? Is one more positive, pessimistic, or brave than the other? Do they bargain? Is one more often the idea person? Does either twin ever have conversations with others without the participation of their twin? I would love some development to show how they are different. Or--is it more that they aren't different? They're described as having "one Gem" in the show. Could it be that--unlike with human conjoined twins--they're more like one Gem with two heads who DO think alike and in coordination? I think it's more likely that they're really supposed to be like two people with a conjoined body, but since Gems are defined identity-wise by their Gemstone and they technically have ONE, who knows?

The Rutile Twins are also pilots, which should mean they have good reflexes and spatial reasoning, and their defining personality characteristic is their fearlessness. They are badasses without being braggarts about it, which would make them very good for leadership if they weren't following someone who's more aggressive about it (Lars). They don't seem to be physically strong and their intelligence hasn't really been touched on, but it seems like they are dependable, quick-thinking, and very brave. They're compassionate and willing to take chances to protect and guide others. I'd love to see more of this in the show, as well as an expansion of how this manifests when the plot gives them more complex goals.

I'd also be interested to know whether the Off Colors have had any discussions as a group about what made them Off Color to begin with. The Rutile Twins and Padparadscha did not have any choice in the matter; they "came out wrong," essentially. Rhodonite and Fluorite, as Fusions, do not have any say over their existence, but a choice to live as a Fusion motivated their components, and I could see some divide being discussed between those whose decision to embody love made them Off Color and those whose bodies/minds don't match the ideal. Who one loves isn't a choice, of course, but what one does in terms of the relationship can be seen as a choice and an action.

And though I know this was rearranged for the show, but I'd be interested to know whether Flint and Chert were originally part of the group's past at any point. They were scrapped Off Color ideas when the Crew decided to slim the group down to the members we saw in the final, but these two were used in a brief scene in Future when Yellow was fixing their physical forms. I'd love to know if they ever lived with the present Off Colors only to later get shattered, or whether the canon is now written such that they never were part of the group. If they were ever around, I'd love to know how the rest of the group saw them. And whether any of the individual members of Fluorite's Fusion started off as individual Off Colors with their own relationships with the other members before they joined that polycule.

I hope they get the original voice actors for everyone back, and I am especially appreciative of the Rutile Twins' different voices. I made a post a long time ago about how their music reminds me of baoding balls.

[gyrovagi]

may i request some frenchman lore crumbs perhaps…. 🤲

yes of course! thank you rana i have so much frenchman lore i've been sitting on dfgjnsdkn.

^ léon-honoré caron is a very strange bisexual man on adderall. out of control.

the gist of his deal is that he's the bastard son of a chevalier, fulgence de verchiel, and a bard, azélie caron. i haven't fully ironed out what went down between them yet, but léon-honoré is generally under the impression his mother didn't have any feelings for his father. she seduced him to get information or leverage she needed at some point, found out she was pregnant, and decided she was interested in raising a child to follow in her footsteps and create her own legacy. fulgence, on the other hand, had a bunch of tiresome notions about responsibility (despite being newly married). zélie told fulgence that she'd let him name the kid, but she did not want him involved in either of their lives.

this, of course, was not how it actually worked out. fulgence kept on popping back up and trying to convince zélie that he could acknowledge léo and take him on as a squire, which zélie shot down and cynically attributed to léo being his only son (fulgence had three daughters with his wife). she tolerated occasional visits and gifts as a reluctant compromise, but was otherwise openly disparaging of fulgence. fulgence was generally affectionate towards his son when they did interact, but was obviously a distant and inconsistent presence in his life with little understanding of who léo actually was. even as a kid léo thought his dad was kind of stupid and self-deluded.

zélie started training léo as a bard from a very young age, and would often have him collect information for her or sneak into places using entrances only a child could fit through. unsurprisingly, she was really more of a bardmaster than she was a mother, and it was difficult to distinguish between her caring about léo as her son and caring about him as her investment. léo still had a very close and trusting relationship with her, if not necessarily an openly affectionate one. when his magic manifested at age 13, he never doubted that his mother would protect him. she quickly and quietly arranged for him to be tutored, and was if anything ecstatic at the idea of her son being a trained bard as well as a capable apostate.

léon-honoré enjoyed some notoriety as a bard for most of his 20s, deftly managing the rumors of his apostasy to add to his intrigue while avoiding anything incriminating. in the power struggle that followed emperor florian's death, however, the death of a patron brought evidence of léo's apostasy to light and the templars to his door. the nobility of orlais found it curious that he did not flee the country, since he clearly had the skills and the resources to get away. some thought he'd grown tired of the cruelty of the game, where bards acted as valuable pieces but never as the players in control. others thought he would rather die with pride rather than live in hiding. those aware of their connection wondered if léo stayed so that his mother would not face consequences in his stead.

nobody expected léo to be stolen from the templars' grasp by the wardens wielding the right of conscription. he eventually learned from the warden who recruited him that this was his father's doing, as apparently the wardens owed fulgence a favor. léo was undeniably glad to be alive and not tranquil, but wasn't certain how he felt about being saved by his father's influence. he struggled to adjust to life as a warden for some time before he met kyunghee andras, who delighted in making fun of him for sulking. her nihilistic approach to life pissed him off so bad he decided the only way forward was to have as much pride in being a warden as he'd had in being a bard.

he was chosen to become ferelden's warden-commander because of his relative seniority, as well as being a rare case of a warden with political experience who was a technical outcast from the orlesian court, and hopefully might be seen as less of a foreign interloper with nefarious intent. and then he burned amaranthine and fucked allied with the architect which made both the fereldans and the order mad at him. but honestly what was he supposed to do in that situation he was trying his best.

he's french. he's pushing 40 and slutting it up. he's tactically bisexual. he stopped having the ability to tell when he was being sincere or not when he was, like, 6. he believes in protecting the world from the blights and nothing else. i NEED to give him something else to do in the worldstate because i've invested too much effort into thinking about him for him to just quietly disappear but i don't know what he would possibly be up to other than trying to fuck the architect

[zozo-01]

in which you know the end is coming and all you can do is hold him close and pray you do not bring him more pain then he has endured <3

"He's coming into his own as the Deliverer."

A calm voice with a robotic tinge spoke up from behind you, taking your eyes away from Phainon playing with the kids around him.

"Yes, I suppose he is," you say with skepticism in his voice. There was always this feeling of distrust towards Lygus, and you have never been able to put your finger on it. Perhaps it was his pragmatic view of the world, or the way he's invested in the success of the Flame-Chase, despite doing nothing to help the Heirs. Maybe you're just extremely paranoid and he's just a kind person- robot?

"Phainon is so close to completing his transformation. I wonder if you're ready for it as well." Lygus looks at you with a tilted head. Unease starts to fill your body. You don't know what he's trying to imply, but the fact that there was an implication made you sick.

"Of course, as is the duties of all the Heirs, I shall stand by him into the Era Nova." You don't mention the dreams you've had. Nightmares so vivid, you're convinced that they are your memories somehow. The bodies of your friends all bloodied and laid out across the land. Your eyes a blood red and an animalistic rage taking over. Phainon standing over you with blood on his sword.

Your golden blood.

You haven't mention this to anyone, fearing that you might cause panic while being so close to your goals. You don't remember Lady Tribbie mentioning that anyone else can receive Janus's blessing. Not that this is a prophecy, they're dreams. Manifestations of your fear and uncertainty over the future. Not an omen of what will come next.

(You don't know this yet, but your dreams were sent to you from beyond the stars. They always knew when the end were to come. It would be kind of them to send their child signs of your doom, even if they sent the same warning over and over again.)

"Are you alright? You seem lost in your thoughts." Lygus didn't sound sympathetic or even pitiful, just curious. "Would you like to confide in me?"

"No," you say sharply. You weren't about to spill this secret to someone you didn't even trust. "I'm fine, Lygus. I've just had issues with sleep."

A self-satisfied smile appeared on his lips. You gave him all the information he needed, even if you didn't say anything specific.

"You are starting to remember, Emanator?"

"What are you talking about?" You hiss under your breath, not wanting to ruin the precious scene in front of you.

"Your kind has always meddled in Ravagers' business, despite Terminus and Nanook being more alike then you think." He starting to walk back to the Demigod Council. He looks back with what you think is a amused stare. You could never tell with the fabric covering his eyes.

"I will wait for you at the start of the new cycle, once the Deliverer completes his final trial." With that, he walks away, like he hasn't upended your entire world view.

Your head blazed with pain, agony seeping into every muscle and bone of your body. Somehow, Lygus triggered the Black Tide within you, it's dark thoughts making you want to destroy everything in sight. How did he know about this little secret of yours? Aglaea had swore that no one would every find out, especially your sunshine in hero form.

Panic and fear flooded your brain and just about when you felt like you were going to burst-

"Starlight! There you are!"

His voice soothes your through your pain, a powerful balm against the Black Tide. It helps you regain your thoughts, feeling like a normal person again. Or at least as normal as you could be.

His arms wrap around you to lift you up in the air. If there was one thing about Phainon, it's that he will never shy away from showing your love for you. In his words, he fought so hard to be worthy of your hand, why shouldn't he show it off any change he gets?

By the Titans, you adore this overgrown puppy, If it were up to you, you would make him forsake the prophecy and live your final days in peace. Just you and him. That would be the Era Nova of your dreams.

"I saw Lygus talking to you earlier, is everything okay?" He tilts his head with enough concern in his eyes to make your heart ache.

"No, everything is fine." You held his face in your hand, staring into the sky blue eyes you have grown to love. "Everything is exactly as it should be."

He beams that bright smile of his and leans down to kiss you. You almost forget about Lygus' words and melt into the arms of your lover. If only you could pretend that your days were not numbered, and that you could spend the rest of your life like this. You hold him tighter, pleaing to whoever is out there to keep him safe, keep him with you.

But nothing lasts forever, and the end comes for everyone. You just hope that it will spare you the pain of losing everything again.

(All things come to an end, that is the philosophy of the Destruction and Finality. It will be interesting how you change once you remember your past and Phainon ascends to his duties.)

so............ his new trailer has me feeling things.......... i want him to be happy ok :'3 also, i don't know if i've mentioned this, but all of these little drabbles are of the same reader and is (kind of) connected to this huge fic i have for phainon and a secret reader hehehehe

or: take this as my offering to get good pulls for phainon <3333 may all phainon wanters be phainon havers!!!!

bonus: my crack theory rn is that phainon's real name is Khaos (aka the last cycles kephale holder) and he just keeps the same name no matter what hehehe

[the-rq-doombringer]

i made them worry about me while playing a game he offered to show me. afterwards they joked about putting a leash on me cause of how much i worried them. at least i think it was a joke.

is it weird that i almost hope it wasn't?

[equalperson]

thinking about how often I see people try to point out the sanism of concepts like "narcissistic abuse" by saying "oh, you wouldn't call people with THIS diagnosis abusive for it!" and while I certainly agree with the basic point, this is just. such a flawed way of going about it.

"you wouldn't call it 'schizophrenic abuse!'" I have seen countless people call their loved ones abusive for being schizophrenic.

"you wouldn't call it '[non-cluster B PD] abuse!'" I've seen tiktoks armchair-diagnosing abusers with paranoid personality, supposed "experts" have treated schizoidism as a risk factor for becoming a serial killer, and some guy wrote an entire book labeling people from every cluster as "emotional vampires."

"you wouldn't call it 'alcoholic abuse!'" ??? why have I seen this one multiple times. "alcohol parent/spouse" is an extremely common shorthand for abuse.

don't get Me wrong, I fully believe in calling out sanism when you see it, but I also believe it's counterproductive to defend one group only by erasing the vitriol directed towards another.

here's a rule of thumb that basically never fails: if there's any diagnostic group that you believe isn't widely dehumanized, it's just because you haven't been in a position to witness it before.

[hells-okayest-dad]

Literally the only thing I want from The Queen's Game is the Foxes/Kevin winning the Day Spirit Award

[ragsy]

Approaching my terrified, cornered oc with a maniacal glint in my eye, hauling a suspiciously dripping bucket labeled "backstory details" in one hand and a bricklayer's trowel in the other

[camellcat]

it confuses me when people say they like willow or xander and then get all uncomfortable and condemning about, like... major parts about them. you don't like that they're wildly possessive of which often leads them to acting irrational and awful...... which is like one of their biggest traits? oh, and you hate that they're not fantastic friends to buffy............. which is also like. how they are. pretty much the entire time we know them. okay!

wow, you find xander to be annoying bc he's a dumb dude who seriously needs to unlearn some ideals and really outta treat his girlfriends nicer. I'm dismayed at his typical guy-ness. bummer, we don't enjoy that willow is like totally abusive when it comes to exerting whatever power can get over people. that sure is a bad thing she does.

I just. I like them BECAUSE of these things idk how the hell you could possibly separate these things from them and still enjoy these characters it boggles my mind

[mechazushi]

Haaa... nothing like a Sunday manga haul to lift spirits...

Also...

*starts scratching my neck like an addict* fuuuuucking finally.... been on my mind for a while.

Aaaaand...

yessss....YEEESSSSSS!!!! MOAR. THE LOCAL COLLECTION IS GROWING.

[rainsofcamelot]

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M WRITING THESE WORDS BUT RUMOR HAS IT THAT EVA, REEVE, PATRICK, AMBER AND ANDRÉ ARE GOING TO JOIN WEST END HADESTOWN IN FEBRUARY TO FILM A PROSHOT FOR NETFLIX

[annkous]

my new year's luck is off the damn charts holy shit

[miscellaneousrenaissant]

Miss Fortune Bandits Outfits

(Archiving some stuff I speculated on twitter a couple years ago about the outfits of the Miss Fortune Bandits)

Clover, Charm, and Coin have a mix of clothing in their outfits coming from four sources: The Galaxy Team, the Ginkgo Guild, the Diamond Clan, and the Pearl Clan.

All three were members of the Galaxy Team, albeit in different Corps

The bandits have stolen from the Ginkgo Guild in the past, as mentioned by Volo

Clover was a member of the Diamond Clan

Coin was a member of the Pearl Clan

Clover is confirmed to have been from the Diamond Clan and part of the Survey Corps of the Galaxy Team. She still wears Diamond Clan boots and a Survey Corps skirt.

Coin is confirmed to have been from the Pearl Clan, and she mentions "plowing fields for the Galaxy Team," suggesting she was part of the Agriculture Corps. She still wears a Pearl Clan belt and skirt and orange Agriculture Corps jacket and leggings.

Charm is from neither of the Clans, but her outfit appears to have the Pearl Clan leggings and a Diamond Clan skirt. It's possible they were borrowed from Coin and Clover, since Coin doesn't wear Pearl Clan leggings and Clover doesn't wear a Diamond Clan skirt, so those pieces of their original outfits would have been available.

The purples of Charm's outfit aren't an exact match in hue to the Construction Corps uniforms; however, there don't seem to be signs of other Corps uniforms in her outfit.

Something interesting, though, is that Charm is wearing a belt and shoe style that only the Galaxy Captains seem to wear. Maybe she had a leadership position before she left? Or it's a character design choice to emphasize she's the "Captain" of the Miss Fortunes?

[prismatoxic]

congrats on writing the fic that made a man text his (sort of estranged) dad. fr your portrayal of every single dynamic is so flawless and considerate. nobel prize.

THAT ACTUALLY DOES FEEL LIKE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT... i hope it goes well anon!!!

there's a lot to be said about people who did the wrong things but feel genuine remorse and want to get better, i think. i've been there (though not in a parent sense), and it's also what happened with my mom after i moved out, so i guess i kind of know how it is from both angles. on top of, you know, just writing what i know of who chilchuck is as a person (and assuming a lot of things about meijack and the others, lmao...)

[a-lil-strawberry]

Uh oh 🙃 I have a new crush

[cappurrccino]

i can't believe i have my first day at my practicum today and my body's decided to get a spicy new kind of migraine over it