#multiple versions of iris

[monstrouscrew]

Maltober Day 5 (John Doe)

prompts by @marimo-art

(ID in the alt text)

[great-tusk]

Oh I didn't realize your S/Is for Blue and Dawn where different!! Can you tell me about your Self ship with Dawn too please??

Yes!!! I love talking about these things.

Under the cut again, but this one’s a little shorter.

HE’S also Quentin! He has a pretty similar backstory except that he never went to Kanto, but he has the same family as my other s/i. He actually traveled to Hoenn after he became champion of Unova, planning to go meet Drake, and he fell in love with contests while he was there.

This is what his team looked like during his Unova journey. (He found Meloetta lost and injured, while they were horribly disoriented. He immediately picked them up, gave them some water, and ran for the nearest Pokémon Center. They were so grateful about it that they joined his team. Later, he brought them to a café that he frequents, and a man taught them Relic Song. He’s always super impressed by the transformation, and shows it off a bunch, especially in contests.) He also entered Haxorus into a bunch of Pokémon musicals, which they loved doing together.

While he was in Hoenn, Drake gifted him a Salamencite and a Key Stone.

Here are his main contest stars.

He has different costumes to match them, and eventually—once he was deep in the contest scene—he heard about contests in Sinnoh. Of course, he was immediately intrigued and had to visit to try them out. See the differences between them, the Hoenn ones, and musicals. There, he met Dawn, who he immediately thought was the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen. He eventually ended up talking to her after a contest, where he found out that she was funny and nice, too. He was like instantly smitten. Little did he know that she actually really liked him, too! They were actually pretty affectionate even before she confessed. She’d hold his hand in public so that they “wouldn’t get separated,” and other similar things.

She confessed her feelings after a contest that he won, and they’ve been a couple ever since. She’s pretty awed by the fact that he enters Pokémon like Haxorus and Mega Salamence, since they really go against like all of the stereotypes of contest Pokémon.

He’s definitely a ray of sunshine type of guy. Pretty cheerful and upbeat.

[aysrin]

Needle Felt Siffrin Build Log: (oct 6 - nov 20, 2024)

Credits goes wholely to @insertdisc5 for creating ISAT and siffrin's design! I am just here to attempt to make cool fanart (and get more people to play isat.. my devious plans are going great so far :3) As always, this isn't a tutorial- it is just a log about how i go about approaching a sculpture and I hope this collection of resources can help others make their own sifs!!

PSA: this has some spoilers for endgame CGs/sprites on my references image board ( also might see it in the backgrounds of my process pics). And bc this is needle felting, you will see some sharp needles! beware!

my inspiration was the intro cutscene where Sif eats the star, so my main goal was to adhere to the style of ISAT as closely as possible while transfering it to 3D space. And I knew i also wanted to try making the cloak for stopmotion purposes, so my process was tailored towards having control over the fabric with wire inlaid within the cloak (more on that later).

I ended up not sticking eyebrows on top of siffrin's bangs lol but anyways, first order of business is Gather Reference! v important. pureref is free and an awesome program. I also do some sketches to visualize the pose and important details i wanted to include in the sculpt.

behold the isat wiki gallery page! tawnysoup wrote an awesome ISAT style guide that absolutely rings true in 3d space too!! adrienne made a sif hair guide here!! (sorry i couldnt find the original link, but it's on the wiki). It says ref komaeda hair so that's what i looked at, along with other adjacent hairstyles! I also like doing drawovers on in progress photos to previs shapes n stuff to get a better idea of the end result.

Also if you're like me and struggle with translating stuff into 3D space, take a look at how people make 3d models and figurines! sketchfab is also a great resource! I looked at the link botw model by Christoph Schoch here for hair ref. (I used Maya, but there's a blender version too ! you can pose characters too if your model has been rigged!)

Face:

Started off blocking out the main shapes of eyelids and iris, and then filling in the colour details in the iris and the star highlights before moving onto adding thin black outlines and eyelashes. I didn't take many in-progress photos cause i kept ripping stuff out to redo them many many times, sorry!! This eye took about 3 hrs bc i just wasn't happy with it!! Sometimes it do be the vibe to give up, go to bed and see how it looks in the morning (more often than naught, it looks fine and it was the "dont trust yourself after 9pm" speaking)

The Mouth:

Couldn't decide if i even wanted to add a mouth as per usual with all my humanoid sculptures.. but i did some drawover tests first to see what expression i liked and to try to visualize it from multiple angles. (I was also testing the placement of stars on the hat brim here)

And then I redid the mouth like 3 times cause the angle just wasn't right (this went on for about the course of a week yay!)

Hair: woe baldfrin be upon ye

I made the hair strands individually first, and then since Sif has some of the hair at the back dyed black, i covered some of the tips with black wool (manually) (I think it would go much faster if i just took a marker to it, but hahaha i love pain and detailing!! )

And then the rest of it was positioning strands with sewing pins layer by layer, always looking at it from different multiple angles- sometimes tailoring the angle or swoop of individual hair flippies. At one point I thought the back looked too cluttered, but the hat covers a lot of it anyways!! yay for hiding mistakes! (imo this is a similar process to how cosplayers style wigs, but on a smaller scale and the same level of time consuming)

As always, look to your reference for guides, and I always do a whole bunch of drawovers over in progress photos to ascertain what was working and what wasn't.

Hat:

A trick to get a super pointy tip, make another tip seperately while keeping the connection point unfelted, and then combine the two to make super pointy hat!! (this also helps if you made the hat too short and need it to be taller. ask me how i know)

The embroidery on the hat brim was done in a hoop and then invisible stitched to the felted top portion. Technically you don't need a hoop but it helps keep the fabric tension, so you avoid puckers in your embroidery. You can also use iron-on stabilizer if your fabric is loose weave or particularly thin. this is the tutorial i used for the stars embroidery! particularly the fly stitch one, french knots, and the criss-cross stitches. highly recommend needlenthread for embroidery stitches and techniques! i learned all my embroidery from this single site alone.

For fabric, I think I used a polycotton i had in my stash,, unsure of the actual fiber content bc i bought it a long time ago. I used DMC Satin floss which was nice and subtle shiny but frayed a lot so it was kind of a pain to stitch with... but keep a short thread length and perservere through it!! After the embroidery was done, I folded up the raw edges and invisible sewed it to the top portion of the hat.

General shape:

Ok general structure of the body is this: wire armature body covered with black wool -> cloak lining & wire cage -> edge of lining is invisibly sewn to the main cloak at the hem -> head

Don't be afraid to mess around with the pattern, it's essentially a pizza with a slice taken out of it to form a steep cone shape!! Use draft paper before cutting into felt to save material! (i think i made like 3 cloaks before i was happy with the shape lol).

You can also hide the seam of the cloak and collars by gently messing up the fibers of the felt with your fingers or a felting needle btw! you can also sandpaper the seams according to Sarah Spaceman in this vid (highly recommend them for their in depth cosplay/crafting builds holy smokes), though since sif cloak is at such a smol scale, I just blended the seam with my felting needle.

For the lining wire cage section, I sewed in wire around the cloak, so the main rotation point is at the top neck area under the collar. These paddles are used to keep whatever pose I need the cloak to be in for stopmotion purposes. Then after the wire is done, I invisibly sewed the lining to the cloak at the hem (same technique as the hat brim to the lining there).

In hindsight, I should've used a thinner fabric for the lining, but i only had sheer white in my stash so had to go with double felt, thus resulting in a really bulky lining but oh well!

Heels:

started with the general boot shape, then tacking on the diamond shape heel stack and also diamond shape sole bc we're committed to the bit here. I skewer the boot onto the armature which also conveniently hides the connection point into the base to keep the whole thing upright and also I can rotate the boot to tweak the angle if needed.

Pins:

I kinda just trial and error'd jewellery wire with pliers into the pin shapes. They're itty bitty!! had a whole bunch of fails before i got two nice ones. A hot tip is to use needle nose pliers and wrap the wire around the tip to get a smooth circle shape!

Base:

I smoothed out the edge of a circular wood base with a dremel, and then used wood stainer to get the black colour. It ended up kinda looking like I took a sharpie to it, but whatever.... now i have a whole ass can of black wood stainer........ I then made a rough mountain of black wool and stuck the feet armature in. And now he's standing!!

Normally at this point when I'm done felting everything, to get a smooth finish, I'd take a small pair of scissors and carefully snip away any flyaway fibers, but this time, I just left them fluffy cause i think that's what sif would do :3c

Photoshoot:

Normally I do shoots using daylight but it was winter so the sun was nonexistent. So I broke out the home lighting setup aka dollarstore posterboard for a nice smooth background, and then hit it with the overhead Fill, side Fill 2, and Rim light, and use white paper/posterboard for bounce light if one side feels too dark. But if things are overexposed, you can move the light sources away until the harshness dims down. I'm using a Olympus mirrorless camera (handed down to me by my sibling so i dont remember the model exactly), which can connect to my phone as a remote so I can avoid shaking the camera when i take photos. Pretty nifty for stopmotion purposes! (yes my camera stand is a stack of notebooks, a tissuebox and some eva foam under the lens, don't judge me)

Stopmotion animation:

I'm still figuring stopmo out on my part, but my process was straight ahead animation ... move the cloak a cm, take a pic.... move another cm, click.... and repeat until i get a version I was happy with. My ref was the cloak animation from Gris (beautiful game btw). The 2d star animation was also done straight ahead using procreate, exported in png with a transparent background, and finally stitched together with the stopmotion footage in photoshop.

My turnarounds are also stopmotion! also secret hack, the turntable is a fidget spinner sticky tacked to a cake platter.

And i think that's all! i mainly wanted to share how I go about thinking about taking a 2d concept and moving it to 3D. I also didn't go in depth into how to actually do the needle felting bc I don't think I''d be very helpful I'm a very good teacher by telling yall to just keep stabbing until it looks right (i'm self taught for this hobby),,, if anyone wants it though, i can share a bunch of tutorials and other felters' process that helped me learn more needle felting!

Hopefully this was helpful to someone! Feel free to send asks if ya got any questions or if anything needs clarification! Or show me your works! I love seeing other people's crafts :3

here have a cookie for making it this far 🥐

[meanderingwistera]

Heaven is here- if you want it

You’re the closest to heaven I will ever get- Iris, The Goo Goo Dolls

Summary - Who knew that picking up that old book from the antique shop would lead to you accidentally summoning a demon? Not you.

Pairing - Demon!Sukuna x reader

Content - Fluff, CRACK, smut, Sukuna’s wonderful personality, talks about religion (briefly), the curse of all archaeologists and historians to accidentally summon things they shouldn’t

Word count - 6.1k

A/N - All demons can be glorified house cats if you try hard enough.

You had known that buying that old tattered book was a bad idea when you could barely read it. It had a dark leather cover and had multiple crosses burned into it, like it was trying to keep something in there. And the pages all were in latin- which you couldn’t read.

Sure you took a semester of Latin but that was the extent of your knowledge. And that had faded over time. But you had resolved to buy it and translate it yourself. It would be a fun challenge for you to do in your free time after your exams.

During exams you had completely forgotten about the book until a week after your last class ended for the summer.

You had been cleaning out your desk when you rediscovered the book in all its hideous glory. With a glass of cheap wine you went through it in a deeper way, looking through it for any semblance of understanding. But all you could come up with was a list of ingredients.

Maybe it was an old cookbook?

The Latin in it was older than what you learned in college. It must be an earlier version of it- maybe even a local strand of it special to a specific town or region. You flip to a random page and decide to try and figure out what it says. The page is burnt at the edges and has a picture of- what you assume- is an oddly specific way to stir the soup?

No, if the Latin translator you found online was right it was a chilli. If this is an actual recipe that you can translate you will be on the fast track of getting recognized by the rest of the Historian community.

Standing up from the couch you walk into your shitty kitchen. You put a pot on the stove and rifle through your spice cabinet for everything you will need. It is both specific and vague, calling for things like thyme and then something that just translates to red.

Half way through the ordiel you end up on the floor, the book in your hands and your old laptop close by. Typing in a word into the translator you see that word that translates to red again. Maybe red food colouring would work. Most people back when you assume this book was written didn’t bother with colouring their food a certain way on a regular basis. But certain plants would have that natural color to change it to red.

You get up and grab your old bottle of red food coloring from the back. This should hopefully work, if it didn’t you were back to square one. Two drops of food coloring enter the pot and it turns a bloody red.

You stir it in the way the book showed, in a star motion.

After that you decide to taste it- which was a bad idea because it tastes awful. You gag and sputter as you get a cup of water. Downing almost the whole thing you heave.

Maybe these people had very different taste buds from you but that was the worst chilli you ever had.

Sitting back on the floor you open the book again. You look at the pages with a frown as the letters don’t make any more sense than ten minutes ago.

A tremor runs through your apartment. The walls shake and you hear glass breaking. You hold onto the counter for dear life, try not to panic and hope the tremor will pass soon.

A minute later you can breathe easy as it passes. Still holding the book you open your phone to check and see what that was. You briefly look up because something black catches your eye that wasn’t there before. A man comes into your view, he stands a few feet away from you.

The man now standing in your kitchen is tall, much taller than any regular human, six-four at the least. He probably has about a head or two on you if you were standing on your toes. But that isn’t the only thing that is off about him. Two horns are on his head and twist back like a ram’s horns.

His red eyes look around your messy kitchen in confusion. He also looks somewhat disappointed and you can’t blame him. You were a poor college student and couldn’t afford a good apartment unless you sold your soul for it. But as he glares at it you feel a little offended. It may be a shitty kitchen, but it was your shitty kitchen.

Eventually his eyes settle on yours.

“What do you want from me?” His voice seems to boom in your kitchen like he was talking into a microphone.

“Who are you and how did you get into my apartment?” You counter his question with one of your own.

“You summoned me.” He tells you like you were stupid.

“I am pretty sure I didn’t-”

The man -demon? you can’t tell- groans and rubs his temples like you were the one inconveniencing him. After a second of you staring at him, he speaks again.

“Sweet lucifer.” He curses and joins you on the floor. “Let’s just get this over with.”

You raise an eyebrow at him, telling him to continue speaking.

“You summoned a demon, me-” He points to himself, “with this book” then points to the book.

“So this isn’t a cookbook?” You ask him for clarification, you need to know what type of book this is to fully translate it.

“No, this is a grimoire.”

You sigh deeply, “So what happens now? Do I sell you my soul or whatever?”

The demon looks contemplative as he stares at you. His red gaze makes you shift, it was intense and electricfying.

You can’t deny the demon’s attractiveness, his exposed torso is muscled and broad, his face all sharp angles. Even his nonhuman features added to his appeal. You had already noticed the horns but now you see a black pointed tail switching behind him as he thinks.

“Y'know what? I will grant your wish for free.” He says with a smirk that shows his pointed canines.

A free wish- but how far can you go? Do most people wish for money? Or youth? What do you actually want?

You look at him then at the book and then to him again.

“You can read this right?” You ask slowly.

“I can do anything you want.” He says, smirk widening.

“Then I want you to help me translate this book.”

The demon’s red eyes widen in surprise and his smirk drops, “That’s what you want? Not wealth or eternal youth?”

“Neither of those things interest me,” You hold the book up to him, “this does!”

His unconvinced attitude is back in full force as he groans. You wonder if he expected something grand. All things considered you were fine financially and eternal life seems lonely.

“Besides this could help us understand how the people who wrote this lived and where! I couldn’t understand the Latin in it but it may be a old form of it, maybe even the earliest form of it so we can trace it back to where Latin was first used-”

He puts a hand over your mouth, cutting you off mid ramble about the Latin language. You blink in confusion as he holds his hand there for a while.

“Do you ever stop talking woman?” He hissed at you.

If you could answer you would tell him no but you can’t at the moment.

“Don’t answer that-” He sighs, “I will grant your wish.”

You light up like a firework. This would be so helpful to your career, you can already imagine the paper you could write about this. The demon on the other hand doesn’t look so happy about this.

Finally he removes his hand from your mouth and you smile at him, not minding him shutting you up anymore.

“Thank you for this!” You go to hug him only to be pushed back by one of his arms.

“Don’t touch me human.” He growls at you.

“What is your name? Or something I can call you?” You ask him.

“Sukuna- let’s get this over with.”

Sukuna has been summoned by humans for thousands of years. He has been asked for so many things that the requests blend together. The most prominent things are youth or wealth, he loves to twist those two wishes.

The most recent man to summon him was a businessman, who had a decent amount of money but Sukuna can always see the gleam of pure greed in people’s eyes. He had wished to become the most wealthy man in the world.

Sukuna had barely suppressed a grin as he granted his wish. The man was so pleased with his wish, watching the zeros extended far then anyone else had. But he was soon arrested for running an illegal underground drug ring. Sukuna had made him wealthy but the man had never specified how he wanted to make him wealthy.

You were an outlier to this. He has seen his far share of scholars but they always ask for fame, which eventually leads to them either being killed by fans or going insane. You had surprised him with your wish.

Sukuna had been sure you would wish for something different from how you had looked at him. The way you looked him over had been not with fear but something much better, want. And he was prepared to give you what you wanted. No one else had wished for him before so he was flattered and even gave you the wish for free.

And now he is stuck being a translator. The second in command to Lucifer, one of the most feared demons in history is a damn translator for the duration of this wish. He would be a laughing stock if anyone found out.

The grimoire you have is long so it will take at least a week if not two before it is done.

You were excited about this and had gathered a notebook and pencil. He just rolls his eyes at your excitement, letting you know about his displeasure at being used this way. You didn’t seem to care about that- which only made him more irritated.

“Okay!” You look at him expectantly and tap your pencil on the paper. “Let's start on this.”

Sukuna grabs the book and begins to read it to you. You scribble down the words on the paper as he reads. Over the course of a few hours you take notes and write down the translation.

Every so often you stop him to ask a question about the words and if they have different meanings in a different context as well as about punctuation

He also meets your cat. The little beast attempts to lay on the papers you are working on and is genuinely a nuisance. At one point you have to hold the cat with one arm and write with the other.

“Alright! Let’s stop for the night.” You say with delight.

He huffs and closes the book. You get up and stretch with a hum. His eyes catch on the sliver of skin that shows as your shirt rides up. He feels his mouth water looking at it. But as soon as he sees it you lower your arms and the skin is covered up again.

“Do demons sleep?” You ask curiosity plain on your face as you look at him as if he were a test subject.

“I don’t have too but I assume you would feel better if I did?” Sukuna says and you turn bashful.

“Only if you want to- let me get you a blanket and pillows so you can take the couch.” You tell him quickly then practically run off to what he assumes is your room.

Maybe this won’t be a total waste of his time.

“Where are you going, human?” Sukuna says to you as you grab your keys from the little cat shaped key ring.

You have spent three days translating the book and are only half way through. Sukuna is a great help if not a little irritated with your questions.

“I have to work so I have a roof over my head.” You explain and slip on your shoes, “also Toffee needs sacrifices.”

Sukuna looks down right offended, “You give that beast sacrifices? It does nothing but bathe and eat all day.”

You can’t help but laugh as the joke flies over his head.

“It was a joke, she hasn’t demanded sacrifices yet but she does demand food.” You explain and wipe the tears out of your eyes from laughing.

He crosses his arms with an unimpressed look that he gives you all too often. You pat his arm in a placating gesture.

“I taught you how to use the remote and Toffee is here to keep you company. I will be back in a few hours.” You tell him with a gentle smile.

Sukuna doesn’t look impressed but turns around to stalk over to the couch. You giggle and walk out the door- he is very interesting in his own grumpy way.

Sukuna doesn’t like being left alone. He feels a deep sense of boredom as he flips through the TV channels. Nothing is interesting to him and you aren’t here to talk to him about your chosen topic. He would prefer that to the pure silence he is now subjected to in your absence.

He tires of flipping through channels quickly and turns the TV off. Toffee looks up at him from her spot in the sunlight shining through the window because of the movement. Her feline eyes are narrowed at him. Raising to the obvious challenge he narrows his eyes right back.

Toffee either is intimidated or doesn’t care because she gets up to wash her ears. He considers this a win and feels rather smug about it. The beast, after deeming her ears clean, saunters over to him. She rubs against him with a meow.

“You have a lot of audacity to touch me, beast.” He grumbles to her. She doesn’t seem to care and continues to rub her head against his calf.

Toffee meows again and paws at his leg for attention. Huffing in irritation he picks her up and brings them eye to eye. She stares at him and Sukuna stares back.

“I don’t like you.” Sukuna tells her.

Toffee looks like she doesn’t believe him.

Work is boring.

After the morning rush at your job the day is filled with boredom and cleaning everything multiple times for something to do. You are cleaning the counter for what feels like when Haibara, your relief, comes in. He is all smiles and you don’t know how he can be so cheerful in the service industry you give him props for it.

“So how was your three days off?” He asks as you take off your apron and clock out.

You pause for just a moment because how do you explain that you accidentally summoned a demon while trying to recreate a recipe and now you have him in your apartment. He would call you crazy, possibly call a psych ward too and you have to finish translating that book before any of that can happen.

“They were great! It was just what I needed.” You say, trying to match his cheerfulness.

The two of you talk long after you are supposed to leave. You tell him about and show him pictures of Toffee. Haibara tells you about his latest date with Kento. Looking up at the clock you realize that you had been talking with Haibara for twenty minutes.

Shit- you need to get home. With a hasty goodbye you practically sprint to your car.

When you get back you find Sukuna on the couch, Toffee laying on his lap as he watches something on the TV. You shut the door softly so you don’t disturb both of them.

Sukuna immediately looks toward the door at your arrival. You give him a small wave and take off your shoes. It feels so good to be home. You can’t help but breathe deeply as you enter the main part of your apartment.

“Please get this beast off me.” Sukuna demands as you walk over to the two of them.

“Poor baby.” You coo at Toffee and scoop her up into your arms. Sukuna rolls his eyes as you baby her.

“She has been terrorising me all morning.” He tells you.

You raise an eyebrow, “I don’t know if I believe you.”

“I am a trustworthy source.” Sukuna says and stands, using his height on you as an intimidation tactic.

You don’t budge but a blush creeps up the back of your neck. Quickly moving out of the way so you don’t feel so caged in you put Toffee down and retreat to the kitchen.

“So how was your day?” You ask him, trying to defuse the heat in your cheeks.

“Fine.” He says straight to the point, his eyes still on you.

You both don’t really talk after that as you make dinner.

For being a demon he isn’t that bad of a person. You had expected him to trash your apartment or something of that nature. But your apartment was in mint condition and even Toffee was untouched. Maybe demons just get a bad reputation?

“So is the christian belief system real?” You ask as you sit down next to Sukuna with your dinner in hand.

He snorts, “You are speaking with a demon and you are asking whether I am real?”

“Well…” You trail off, embarrassed but still curious. Sukuna catches on quickly.

“You can choose which religion you want to be associated with.” He explains with a annoyed air to his voice, “Then you are judged by that belief system,”

Oh. That actually sounds great and rather inclusive.

The two of you lapse into silence again as you take in that information. You had been raised religious and it had affected your relationship with him. You had been terrified that he was a purely malicious being but he had proved you wrong.

After years of coming to terms with it you had been certain you would be going to hell but maybe there is a chance that you aren’t.

A fluttery feeling makes itself at home in your chest as you look him over.

“Do you want to continue with the book?” You ask, ignoring it.

“Yeah.”

After that day Sukuna and Toffee would be waiting for you on the couch when you come home from work. Sukuna claimed to not like the cat but she was always touching him in some way so you don’t really believe him. He had also taken a liking to cooking shows.

Demons can eat but apparently don’t truly need to eat. Something about the souls they consumed could keep them fed for thousands of years. Sukuna had bragged that he had consumed thousands of souls so food was no longer necessary for him. It was funny to see him watch those shows while denying any food you offer him.

But you were never one to kink shame.

“Why are you staring at me Woman?” He asks you, a brow raised in question.

You smile sweetly, “Just thinking! Also can I touch your horns? They are interesting.”

That earns you a nasty glare from the demon. It was bad for him that you lost your fear for him a few hours into his first day here. You respected his boundaries but that didn’t mean you didn’t poke them some times for a reaction.

“No you may not.” He growls at you and looks away with a huff.

You can’t help but giggle as he acts like a spoiled house cat. You also wonder if all demons are like house cats or are others more violent.

“Stop laughing.” He demands, his gaze returning to yours.

Trying hard to compose yourself you take a deep breath, only to laugh harder.

“Sorry!” You wheeze out as he looks more and more irritated with you.

Sukuna, much to his credit, only rolls his eyes. He gets up and makes his way to the kitchen. After your laughing fit you follow after him, curiosity in every step.

“What are you doing?” You ask him as he pulls out a few pots and pans.

“What does it look like?” He responds gruffly and you step out of his way so he can get to the stove.

“I thought demons don't need to eat?”

“I don’t need human food but I am bored so I thought I would try it.” He explains before practically pushing you out of your own kitchen.

Demons are weird beings.

A week after you summoned him you are fifty pages away from having it fully translated. There is a new sense of excitement and anticipation in you as the last page gets closer. But something pulls at your chest.

You don’t want Sukuna to go. He is good company, even his grumpiness is endearing in a way. Maybe you are just lonely but the closer the last page gets the more your heart drops into your stomach.

So when Haibara texts you about going out you take it as a way to prolong Sukuna’s stay. You put on the best dress you have, one that hugs you tight but not in an unflattering way.

Sukuna watches as you apply your makeup, it makes a shiver run down your spine to have his attention.

“Why are you staring at me?” You ask him over your shoulder.

He huffs and looks away, “I wasn’t.”

You giggle at his attitude and keep applying your mascara. Once you deem yourself fit to go out you get up. Sukuna watches your every movement and you try not to be too awkward under his gaze.

“Where are you going now?” He asks, his arms crossed and tail flicking with what you assume is irritation, just like a cat.

“Haibara asked me if I wanted to go out and we can finish up the translation tomorrow since I am off all day!” You explain and put on your heels.

His red eyes narrow but he doesn’t speak anymore. The air in the room gets colder somehow. You feel the tension rise in the room as you walk out the door into the hall.

That is new.

You are going out with a man.

Sukuna can feel his irritation rise by the minute. The rage prickles right under his skin. Another man is touching you in the way he should. He had never planned on getting attached to you but he now can’t handle letting you go.

At first it was just attraction, your body drove him wild. You didn’t seem to understand that he was affected by it. Then your laugh began to make his heart feel like it was dying. He was in far too deep to lose you to a stupid mortal man, he can’t please you like he could.

Maybe he should show you how much better he is than that man.

You feel good, the alcohol makes everything light and pleasant. It helps you not think about Sukuna who will be out of your life in a day. You can drink and forget.

“I think you should stop drinking!” Haibara yells over the loud music.

“I am not drunk!” You say and stand up only to wobble. Haibara is beside you in an instant, supporting you as you walk to the door.

“You are going to have the worst headache tomorrow.” He says with disapproval in his tone.

“It’s fine!” You tell him with a drunken giggle.

Haibara calls a cab and helps you into the back seat. You are a complete mess as you sit in the back seat.

He sits next to you as your drunken high turns to a drunken low. Tears prick your eyes as you remember that Sukuna is close to being out of your life. You sob into Haibara’s shoulder as he pats your back.

The cab driver stops the car and Haibara helps you out. You stumble a little but mostly make your way into the door by yourself. He has a hand on your lower back and a hand holding yours for balance.

Not deeming yourself fit for the stairs, Haibara helps you into the elevator. About halfway up to your apartment you realize that Haibara will want to help you into bed. He will see Sukuna and then you don’t know how to explain that to him.

‘Hey Haibara, so this is a demon I accidentally summoned that may or may not be dangerous and by the way I might have a major crush on!’

How do you get out of this situation?

You step out of the elevator and see your door. It feels too close for comfort, your bubbly drunk high is slowly replaced with mounting anxiety as you get closer. Haibara guides you to a stop in front of your door. As he goes to knock the door opens.

“How much did you drink?” Sukuna’s voice curls around your anxiety.

He looks… human. The ram's horns are gone and so is his tail. His eyes are more brown then red now but still have red undertones. The tattoos are still there but less prominent. Bagging jeans and a shirt have replaced the robe he was wearing.

Haibara looks confused between the two of you. Sukuna huffs and takes your left side to guide you into the apartment.

“Thank you for helping my girlfriend home.” He basically growls, Haibara looks even more confused at his comment and glare.

As the door shuts in his face the word ‘girlfriend’ swims around your mostly sober head. You are bright red as he guides you to the couch. He huffs in annoyance as you flop back onto it.

“You are so helpless like this.” He grouses as he kneels down to undo the buckles of your heels.

His hands are warm against your ankles and you are in shock. It's so much more gentle than before. You can still feel the tense air from when you left but as he helps you out of your heels his touch is tender.

His current appearance doesn’t help the images you now have in your head of Sukuna being your boyfriend. You can imagine slow mornings with him on your days off, him learning to like Toffee and being there when you get home.

If he could look like this at will then you could go out together-

“Stop thinking.” Sukuna leans up to flick your forehead and you put a hand to it in reflex.

“Sorry.” You mutter and look away from him.

“Was that the mortal who asked you out to the bar?” Sukuna’s gaze goes dark as he asks you.

“Yes-”

He rests both large hands on the back of the couch, his arms caging you in. Your face is mere inches apart as he looks at you with a mix of jealousy and lust. His red eyes trace your parted lips, then look up to you. Your breath hitches as his nose bumps with yours as he kisses you.

The kiss starts off slow, almost reverent, then his tongue licks your bottom lip. His pace quickens as you open your lips to let him in. You wrap your arms around his neck and pull him closer to you.

“Mine.” He growls into your mouth, a hand resting on your thigh.

A heat ignites deep in your bones as he says it. His lips leave heated marks where they trace your skin. You gasp as his fingers ghost under the hem of your dress.

You need this. Ever since you saw him you knew you needed it. You wonder if he knows that because of the smirk on his lips as he kisses you. Sukuna flips your positions so you are straddling his lap, his hands rest on your hips as you adjust.

“You have been teasing me this entire time.” He says and his teeth graze your neck.

His teeth on your neck has you squirming in his lap. He chuckles at your reaction and sinks his teeth into your collar bone, not enough to hurt but enough to feel blood beed on the surface of your skin. As repentance he licks away the blood and kisses the broken skin.

With his hands on your hips he guides you as you grind on him slowly. It’s sinfully slow and you want more, need more.

“I need more!” You whine as his hands run up and down your sides.

“No one makes demands of me.” Sukuna says and reclines back to watch you grind down on his lap.

A languid smirk spreads on his lips.

Sukuna thinks about keeping you like this for all the times you had teased him. He thinks it a fitting punishment for you. It would be fun to watch you grind down on him and get no relief. He wonders if he could bring you to tears this way.

You would look so pretty with tears in your eyes. It would ruin the makeup you had put on for tonight. Your mascara would be running down your flushed cheeks as you beg him for release.

He cups your cheek and you lean into his touch. A pleading look on your face and a slight pout to your lips. How could he deny you with that expression on your face?

Dropping the human form it's easier to slip out of his clothes. The robe leaves nothing to the imagination as he grins at you.

Pulling your dress he gets a glimpse of what he has been craving for a week now. Your panties are soaked as you are perched on his lap. And your chest is almost spilling out of your lacey excuse for a bra.

Sukuna runs a hand down your body as you fiddle with the belt to his robe. He hisses as you expose his dick to the cold air of your apartment. It has been a few years since he has had a good fuck so his cock is sensitive to your light touch.

“Ride me, I want to be as deep inside of you as I can get.” He says as you run your hand over his length a few times.

You give him an innocent little smile as you sink down on him.

Sukuna thinks he might have gone to heaven as your tight cunt sucks him in. He grips your hips as you take all of him in. Your cunt might be the closest he will ever get to this pearly gates and he is happy with that. It was much more welcoming than that stuffy place.

You have a slight scrunch in between your brows as you adjust to his size. Soft hands find purchase on his broad shoulders as you steady yourself. After you settle you move.

“That’s it, you’ve got it.” He praises you as you ride him.

Sukuna feels you tighten around him as he says it. You must like praise, he will have to abuse that.

His hands trace up your stomach to the flimsy bra you have on. It doesn’t take long for his hands to rip the bra off of you. You look a little bit upset about that but it is replaced by pleasure as he takes a nipple into his mouth. There is no complaint out of you after that.

Your movements pick up pace as you reach your high. Sukuna sucking and biting on your chest is driving you closer. Trying to find something else to hold onto your hands snake up into his hair. Your fingertips graze the junction of his horns and his head.

Sukuna lets out a low growl as you touch them lightly, curious about how sensitive they are.

“I told you not to touch those.” He warns you.

“When have I- fuck-” Sukuna thrusts up into you, cutting off your sentence, “ever listened to you about stuff like that?”

“Maybe I will just have to fuck some sense into you.” He suggests and begins to fuck you in ernest.

You keep a firm hold of his horns as he picks up a brutal pace. It is both too much and not enough. Finally he finds your g-spot. Sukuna chuckles low in his chest as you whine and it goes straight to your clit. His deep thrusts become targeted at that spot as your body writhes on his lap.

Then you are over the edge, cumming all over his cock. It feels so good. Your thighs trimble as you milk his dick. He ruts up into you as your orgasm triggers his own. Sukuna’s teeth are at your collar bone as he cums. You pant as his teeth draw blood as he spills out into you. His iron grip on you tightens as he rides his high.

“I needed that.” Sukuna mutters into the crook of your neck. His breath tickles your neck and you let out a little giggle at his sudden clinginess.

“Me too,” You say but are cut off by a yawn, “but I would like to go to bed soon, I am tired.”

“I don’t think that you are in any position to make demands of me.” He looks at you with a self assured smirk.

You raise and eyebrow, “I own this house and I can never fuck you again if you want to be that way.”

He glares but stands up, his arms around you to keep himself in you. It felt intimate to be this close with him. He is warm and surprisingly gentle with you as you move to your bed.

Sukuna lays down on the bed with you buried in his chest.

“I am staying inside you.” He tells you with no room for argument.

“I have no objections.” You laugh and get comfortable.

It is quiet for a while after that as you two drink each other in. You don’t complain as it gives you time to think about what just happened and what will happen after you finish that book.

“Hey,” You say softly, “do you think that if we don’t finish that book you will not be sent back to hell?”

Sukuna blinks down at you in surprise, which smooths out into a smirk.

“I am sure that will work but are you prepared to keep me around?” He asks you.

“More than prepared- are you ready to deal with me?” You challenge him back.

“Always.”

You stand awkwardly against one of the gallery's white walls with a glass of champagne. People walk around looking at the different historical statues, papers and jewellery. Despite being here as a honoured guest it is still not your regular crowd of people.

This is also a little daunting to be here even after your rise to fame. Even with the pages missing the book and translation got the attention of both the historical and archaeological communities. You were shocked at all the recognition that you got from it.

You had expected a few people to notice and maybe a few to reach out to you about it but not fancy galas and snobby rich people thinking that they can just buy the book off of you.

That is how you have gotten into your current predicament.

“How much would you say this grimoire is worth? I have enough to purchase it and even a little more.” The man says with a slimy grin.

You can’t punch this man in the face, you have to accept an award later. So you need a different way out of this situation-

“Found you.”

A pair of strong hands come to rest on your hips. You look back to see Sukuna just behind you, a glare that could kill is pointed at the man talking to you.

“I was wondering when you would get here!” You exclaim and turn around to wrap your arms around his neck.

Pressing a kiss to his cheek he chuckles, “I got stuck in traffic.”

As if on cue the man talking to you practically sprints away. Sukuna looks completely unimpressed with the man as he makes his speedy exit. You laugh at his expression and tug his head down so he looks at you.

“That pretentious asshole doesn’t matter,” You tell him as he grins at you, “now let’s go get this award so I can get out of these heels.”

“I have no objections to that.” Sukuna drawls and lets you take his hand to pull him through the crowd of people.

Maybe opening that old book wasn’t such a bad idea.

tags: @maryhyun254 @yangtze-06

[certifiedposeidonhater]

PERCY JACKSON HEADCANONS!! (i have a very, very, VERY long series of these on my tiktok so i’ve decided im gonna start posting them here!)

this is gonna be the first part! i’m gonna do like 20-25 each part. (there’s a lot…) just a reminder to pretty please be respectful and kind. i love hearing different opinions and explaining why i think the things that i do or my reasoning behind these, but if you are rude or mean, im just gonna shut you down. if you want to RESPECTFULLY discuss our different opinions, i would LOVE to!! 💙

alrighty, here goes (why am i lowkey nervous?):

1. So, you know how aphrodite children know French bc it’s like the language of love? Percy knows a lot of island/oceanic languages that are native to island cultures (e.g. Māori, Tahitian, Samoan, etc.) because…poseidon.

2. Percy bottles up all of his emotions until he eventually has a mental breakdown where he lays in bed for a few days and completely isolates himself from all his friends and family. He kinda just pops back up when he’s done and acts like nothing happened. None of his friends or family really have the heart to bring it up, and if they do, he’ll just dismiss it and shut down.

3. He physically cannot eat when someone is upset at him or he’s upset at somebody else (he’s usually upset at himself.)

4. Percy and the aphrodite cabin were kinda friends. Especially him and Drew and him and Silena. I don’t know why but it just makes sense. They have weekly gossip sessions. The aphrodite cabin were the only campers (well mostly Silena but still) who didn’t avoid or ignore Percy once he got claimed. Silena and Beckendorf took him in and became almost parental figures.

5. Percy once got in an argument with his dad so he drove himself to a nearby church and got himself baptized at a local church to spite his dad (which i feel like kinda cancels out the whole point of the baptism but whatever.) His mom also got him baptized when he was a baby because she was annoyed at poseidon and also bc she grew up in a kinda religious household. (‘Cause i’m pretty sure that Sally was from Texas and so it fits the region.)

6. He’s not white. He’s actually Hispanic/Portuguese. It fits the majority of the ethnicity census in the area where he grew up so it’s very likely. Plus (other than Walker) i lowkey cannot imagine Percy as white.

7. He has nightmares from seeing himself from another point of view and seeing how scary he is. (He’s scared of himself. (He sees himself as Luke.))

8. Gods and goddesses used to visit Percy as a kid and just kinda chat him up and hang around him a bit. He would literally just randomly be sitting on the subway and suddenly Iris pops up and starts talking to him, and Percy being the 8 yo kid he is, he starts talking back and suddenly it’s a full-blown conversation.

9. He has a special spot that he used to go to with Beckendorf. They found it while they were searching for something for one of Beckendorfs projects. It’s like a little pond somewhere in the forest, super remote. Percy still goes there whenever he’s at camp and it reminds him of Beckendorf.

10. He has the ability to see the past through water. Like how water can collect energy? Like that science thingy where energy can kinda collect in water? Well, Percy can use his powers to kind of bring the past to life based on what has happened near the water. (e.g. he could use the water in the creek to create like a mist version of the things that happened there. Like his claiming. think Frozen II)

11. When he was a kid, g*be used to kick Percy out on the streets. He would be supposed to be taking care of Percy when Sally was at work and he would just make Percy go outside for hours at a time no matter what the weather was. Even if it was a blizzard and Percy didn’t have a jacket, Percy was outside.

12. g*be has broken Percy’s arm (multiple times) and he told everyone it was from falling down the stairs of his apartment complex. It never healed right either so his right arm is a little funky.

13. He’s left handed.

14. Percy has tried to off himself. But that’s also canon so like-

15. Percy dissociates a lot. It happened more when he was a kid but it started up again after the first war. He will dissociate for hours and no one knows how to get him out of it. It stresses Annabeth out SO MUCH.

16. He developed an eating disorder where he hated himself so much that whenever he ate, his mind would hyperfixate and overthink about that hatred and how much of a terrible person he was to the point he would throw up everytime he ate. Restricting what he eats also helps him feel in control of his life, and he gets so little control that the feeling of starving himself became almost euphoric.

17. He HATES pigeons and squirrels (it’s irrational.)

18. He’s fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. and some Italian bc of g*be and bc he grew up around the Italian mafia.

19. He knows A LOT of random facts about random local places without ever being there. It rlly impressed Annabeth when she started talking abt some cool architectural thing and Percy was js like “oh yeah, i know all about that!” he’s never been to half of them, but he knows about it.

20. His New York accent was *super* noticeable when he was a kid and he got bullied for it, so he started hiding it and does it subconsciously even though he knows his friends wouldn’t make fun of him. It still comes out when he’s tired, stressed, or emotional.

21. He code switches.

22. Percy hates Boston and New Jersey

23. He isn’t patriotic at all but the SECOND someone starts talking bad abt nyc he is ON IT. Same with if a European (mainly a British person) says something bad about America, he starts becoming Alexander Hamilton. He suddenly LOVES his country and that country’s culture.

Hope yall enjoy! I’m just posting old ones from tiktok so i have them backed up on somewhere and to get the people on tumblr caught up and there will be more soon 🤗🤗 If yall have any questions or anything, PLEASE ask me! I love talking to people about this stuff!

[tainbocuailnge]

fairy tales are real, iris and bena explicitly say this multiple times and have the dreamland powers to back up the claim

the castle of dreams and the crimson troupe are similar entities according to shalem

iris’ grandmother is in the crimson troupe castle chilling like she belongs there + implicitly has gone to at least one of their performances, one of the books in iris' castle had a ticket to a crimson troupe performance being used as a bookmark

iris only knows the sanitised versions of victorian fairytales according to her profile

-> iris likely does not know the true nature of her own castle or what it means for it to be similar to the crimson troupe. her castle might even be the exact same castle as the troupe's without her knowledge, or it might essentially be a sanitised version of the same fairytale.

shalem is implicitly clairvoyant, multiple lines have him refer to seeing or envisioning the future and he knows things he has no reasonable way of knowing

shalem's profile also presents information that a HR employee would have absolutely no reasonable way of knowing and he's the only operator whose profile is not plausibly written by rhodes HR, even the corrupting heart has more empirically verifiable files. shalem's files are instead pretty blatantly written by the troupe

despite the troupe repeatedly claiming shalem has no talent and they don't want him back, both his profile and his nightmares involve the troupe urging him to go back on stage

shalem's skin is called "the fruition" and the description talks about fruit being best when it is ripe enough to fall, something only those who create get to taste.

the skin also has the text "flower of evil" and notably even in unofficial designs from cenm0 shalem is almost always wearing or carrying flowers in some way (his jacket has a flower pattern on the inside in his default look), and in both his skin and that unofficial fucked up shalem design the flowers are growing directly on him

-> the imagery all points to shalem having some manner of unfulfilled potential that he will reach in the future, whether he wants to or not, which will consume him in some way, and he is aware of this.

fairytale castles can take many forms including that of people, this is brought up in both iris and bena modules as well as implied by the dreambind castle collectible. the fairytale from bena's module, in which a boy's home castle takes on a form that looks like him to follow him around, is specifically mentioned to be from the same compilation that iris' grandmother is reading in her is2 encounter

the crimson troupe castle is all but explicitly sentient, several is2 medals as well as furniture items refer to the castle as something with its own awareness and will

both the castle of dreams and the crimson troupe castle explicitly operate outside linear time, and the crimson troupe castle in particular has multiple cases of one person existing in multiple points in time at once (big sad lock and the person whose soul was used for it, phantom hiding under a table while the blood diamond is walking around)

the soundtrack for the IS2 6th floor (hall of desires, no time) is called "silent abyss" with the same character as shalem's old name & to my understanding the characters for "silent" could also translate as "tranquil"

there is such a thing as a "castle's offspring," a “stage” and a “castle” are things that can grow and propagate

-> I have an idea for shalem's recursively inevitable future.

[tea-blankets-andstars]

OK HUSTLE UP ITS TAG GAME TIMEEEE 🫵

HOGWARTS HOUSE BINGOOO

Fill out the bingo of your hogwarts house (or multiple if you have more then one) and then tag three of your moots who you think would be intrested (if you dont know your house this quiz is very good!)

(click for better quality, these bingo sheets are not mine i found them on pintrest!!)

I GET TO TAG LOTS OF PEOPLE BC ITS MY TAG GAME SO YA! anygaysss tagssss @uhhlifeig @forensic-b1tch-aiden @moonyfr @therewasnofloorbtw @aesthetic-writer18 @iris-flower1019 @dyl-z @the-real-agatha-harkness @moonyswarmsweaters @nyx-taylors-version @starcrossedmoony @allonsy-moony :D

⤵️mine

🦈👍👍

[yatagarasuhonyaku]

Chapter of the Fireflies: Those Who Yearn

Disclaimer: This is a fan-translation japanese-english of the original novel. This is a short story originally written for a japanese magazine and later compiled in one of the Ravens' Hundred Flowers books.

Blog version

For other translations, you can find them HERE

Timeline: Midway of Raven of the Empty Coffin, after the Chihaya chapter

Characters (in order of relevance): Masuho no Susuki, Akeru, Sumio, Yukiya, Hamayuu, Nazukihiko, Chihaya, Shigemaru.

Synopsis: During Yukiya's second year at the Monastery, he takes the lead role during the Boys' Festival celebrations at Cherry Blossom Palace. The inciting incident to a strange proposal...

⊛　　　　　⊛　　　　　 ⊛

Those Who Yearn(1)

It all happened during the Boys’ Festival(2).

At the time, the mountains were full to the brim with new leaves, all sparkling like green jewels under the dazzling sunlight, but in Cherry Blossom Palace none was more splendid than Sakura no Kimi, the Crown Prince's wife. 

An aroma so strong it was almost overbearing came from the ornamental scent bags hanging around the place. They were made with mugwort and iris, and decorated with freshly cut flowers and five-colored strings that were now swaying in the blowing wind. For the first time in three long years, the Horse Racing Ceremony was to take place at the riding grounds in front of Cherry Blossom Palace.

Within Yamauchi, the Boys’ Festival was, for the most part, structured to take two days. During the first, Medicine Hunting(3) took place, and Horse Racing was scheduled for the second.

As for Medicine Hunting, just like the name implied, the term originally referred to a religious service(4) consisting of the picking of medicinal herbs and the acquisition of deer antlers. The first day was, in fact, the most important part of the event. It was when the Golden Raven, the chief of all Yatagarasu, would perform a ritual known as ‘Antler Knocking’, in which he would retrieve the antlers of a nine-colored deer(5) raised by the Bureau of Medicine.

However, in modern days, real deer hunting had come to take place simultaneously with the ritual at one of the hunting grounds on the Center's property. The attendees were mostly young noblemen, purposely for the sake of building up their stamina in preparation for the coming summer, who would later go on to present their acquired prey at the Court. The second day's Horse Racing Ceremony was intended as a reenactment, showing off their performance during the hunt itself.

For the Yatagarasu, who possessed both the form of a human and a three-legged giant crow, to employ another member of their own race as a ‘horse’ and ride it was an act requiring permission only given to a limited number of privileged. So, during the event, the young noblemen who took part in the hunt rode outstanding giant crows, all specially chosen for the occasion, and shot an arrow each towards an earthenware deer statue as they flew towards it.

There were multiple potential riding grounds in the Center, so the one used for the festivities was chosen by the priests after seeking Lord Yamagami's divine will. That said, for the one by Cherry Blossom Palace to go unchosen for three years was unheard of. After all, there was in truth another altogether different criteria than divine will playing a hand in the events. 

On the sides of the cliff where Cherry Blossom Palace stood, there were covered paths built to bridge the different buildings. Thin bamboo screens had been placed on them, making it impossible to look at whoever hid within them. There sat the Ladies in Waiting under the service of Sakura no Kimi, the edges of their kimono visible from underneath the curtains. Peeking from underneath the green bamboo were colors as vivid and pleasing to the eye as the peonies and azaleas that decorated the many ornamental scent bags around.

Masuho no Susuki, the head of Sakura no Kimi’s Ladies in Waiting, watched over such a scene with the indifference of an onlooker. She was standing on top of a stage which overlooked the roofed paths where the others were waiting in line.

To the opposite side, at the halfway point between the stage and the mountain, a tall rock protruded upwards with a red deer statue on top of it. Giant crows flapped their dark wings as the young noblemen on their backs approached the statue one after the other, mimicking the act of shooting their bows.

While they all feigned indifference, they kept giving curious glances at what hid behind the bamboo blinds—most likely, picturing in their minds the ladies’ beauty through their lovely clothes. Something that the women within were very well aware of. They had, in fact, gone through great lengths to look their best for the day. Aware as she was of their hard efforts, Masuho no Susuki looked warmly over the scene from underneath her long-handled parasol.

The Ladies in Waiting serving at Cherry Blossom Palace were often young, beautiful women—and their chances to meet the sons of the nobility were quite scarce. Many of them ended up marrying someone just for their families’ sake without ever meeting face to face with their husband before the fact. Hence, it had become custom to use the Horse Racing Ceremony as an excuse for a bachelor line-up.

The number of successful marriages among the nobility went noticeably up every year the Ceremony took place at Cherry Blossom Palace compared to the others. Some young men had even gotten the chance to successfully rise up in standing after a high-ranking princess fell in love with them at first sight, so none were more psyched up during the day’s exhibition than those of the low nobility.

Just a few years ago, as Masuho no Susuki calmly realized, she would have been the most concerned with the beauty of that barely visible kimono edge. Yet now that her plentiful waving locks had been replaced with the hairstyle of a nun, the only thing she felt was utter disinterest.

The highest of the nobility, besides the Golden Raven, who stood at the top of Yamauchi’s hierarchy, were the Four Houses, who had all been entrusted with the ruling of the territories in each of the cardinals—the Eastern, Southern, Western and Southern Houses. Each Region had their own unique produce and crafts they specialized in, and their best goods and talent were all henceforth sent to the Imperial Court. In doing so, the economy at Yamauchi’s Center stayed in motion.

Masuho no Susuki had been born as the first princess of the Western House, which held craftsmanship as its regional specialty and, until not that long ago, she had been one of the candidates to become the wife of the Crown Prince—Wakamiya.

Masuho no Susuki’s beauty had been without equal at the time, even compared to the other beautiful princesses sent by the Four Houses to Cherry Blossom Palace as prospective wives. There had been no doubt she would be the one chosen and yet, in the end, it wasn’t her but a lady of the Southern House—the West's political rivals—who became Sakura no Kimi.

Ever since infancy, Masuho no Susuki had spent her life with the conviction that she would be chosen as the prince's wife. She had longed for Wakamiya—who had grown into quite the attractive young man, a perfectly matching picture to the memories of those moments in her youth spent together—more than anyone else. A fact that had driven her to believe that, in the unfortunate and unlikely case she went unchosen, it would be the end of her. That she wouldn’t be able to live on.

Reality, however, couldn’t have been more different from her imagination.

The moment Masuho no Susuki actually met Wakamiya during the consort selection process, she came to discover that the attraction wasn’t there at all. He even told the candidates—of all things to say—that ‘he didn't particularly like them, and there's a possibility he may end up betraying them in the future.’ That ‘if they didn’t mind that, he would make them his wives.’

His arrogance was plain for anyone to see as he stomped all over the love the princesses held for him. Masuho no Susuki was a prideful woman and this wasn't something she could ever overlook. In fact, she had been so worried about the Southern princess, who had actually gone and accepted such terms, that in the heat of the moment she became a nun and a Lady in Waiting serving her.

Those of the Western House had been beside themselves with disappointment, apparently, but Masuho no Susuki saw the instant she cut down the same hair she had prided herself in as being freed of something possessing her. From that point onwards, she had lost all interest in romantic love.

She learned afterwards that Wakamiya's circumstances were what left him with no other option but to be realistic to a fault like that. While it gave her a newfound respect and admiration for the Southern princess, as she had chosen to become his wife with full knowledge of the brutal circumstances she was embroiling herself in, she still couldn't picture herself as Wakamiya’s wife at all from that day onwards.

She had never expected to find such a side to herself, but she had come to discover that she liked this version of herself—someone who kept her dignity and pride—much more than the woman drunk on love she had once been. So, what alternative did she have?

——An hour or so had passed since the start of the ceremony.

The last shooter should be about to arrive at the scene. This star shooter, unlike the other young noblemen taking part in the event before him, didn’t have to feign the act—his role was to shoot an arrow and actually hit the deer effigy. Successfully taking it down brought good fortune and failure brought misfortune, or so the story went, which made it an important duty to bear.

Ever since that tiny boy had left to train to become a high-ranking military officer, Masuho no Susuki hadn’t had much of a chance to meet with him—would he be actually capable of successfully fulfilling the task?

Suddenly, the sound of bells ringing resounded in the distance.

“He's coming, Lady Masuho no Susuki,” the Lady in Waiting waiting beside her announced nervously.

It wasn’t the shooter ringing the bells, but the herald. Ting-ting-ting. A giant crow led the way, the bells producing their shrill sound as it moved forwards. It flew much, much faster than any of the young noblemen had before. In fact, Masuho no Susuki couldn’t help but wonder with a touch of fear whether it was too much speed.

Yet, right behind the heralding giant crow came the shooter—and he proved to be just as swift. The rider, laid down on top of his steed, lifted his body all of a sudden with smooth, graceful movements as the sleeves of his cool light blue kimono—embroidered with silver—flapped in the wind, the gold of the stirrups sparkling under the sun.

The shooter, with his back now fully straightened as if he were unfolding, clung tightly to his mount's back using just his thighs while he gracefully drew the bow.

A woosh, and the arrow came loose with a sound not unlike a high-pitched whistle, piercing the deer effigy as if it had been sucked in. The effigy immediately crashed down with a clatter, giving no time for the bell to ring to indicate the shooter had successfully hit the target.

The spectators cheered, and the shooter dropped his speed. He then drew a loose arc in the sky, flying towards the spot where Masuho no Susuki awaited him. In the process, he passed by the roofed paths and their excited occupants but, unlike the other young men taking part in the ceremony, he didn't pay them even a single glance. The other young men, who had been on standby right underneath the stage, flew up and positioned right behind him.

The star shooter—a scion of the Northern House, once Wakamiya's close aide and a boy Masuho no Susuki regarded as her own little brother—smoothly landed on the stage where Masuho no Susuki stood with the spectacularly dressed young noblemen right after him.

Actually, no—calling him a ‘boy’ didn't feel right anymore. The young man had now dismounted with ease and approached Masuho no Susuki with a broad smile on his lips.

“It’s been so long, Lady Masuho no Susuki.”

His friendly voice was unfamiliar to her ears, somewhat hoarse as it was so characteristic of teenage boys. Masuho no Susuki was taken aback.

‘Who is this?’

Of course, she knew his name. Asking would be stupid, she realized that much. Still, and despite having met so many times before, the man in front of her looked like a completely different person in her eyes.

“Are you… Yukiya?”

“I am, yes. I've come to bring this year's Boys’ Festival's medicine to Sakura no Kimi.”

After giving his face a long, hard look, Masuho no Susuki could in fact tell those were without question Yukiya's features, but he had changed so much that it was almost a guarantee to confuse him for another.

His cheeks, once round like a baby's, were now lean, giving him the distinctive look of a warrior, and the outline of his face was that of a young man, firm and defined. His skin had a healthy tan to it and his somewhat light-colored eyes sparkled. To top it all off, he had become noticeably taller compared to their last meeting—it was now Masuho no Susuki who had to look up.

It actually felt like a fox had disguised itself to deceive her.

“Lady Masuho no Susuki?” Yukiya called out to her, perplexed.

After finally coming back to herself, a panicking Masuho no Susuki proceeded to respond as custom demanded. “You did a good job coming here. Sakura no Kimi must be no doubt overjoyed as well.”

“There's no bigger honor than that,” Yukiya courteously bowed his head and signaled behind him with his eyes. The moment he did that, a number of warriors—all fully clad in black—briskly stepped forward from the group and proceeded to place in a line the medicine, deer meat and antlers they had brought, all loaded on small offering stands.

Once she verified that everything in the checklist was accounted for, Masuho no Susuki nodded in approval. “Everything has arrived safely indeed.”

“Please, send my best regards to Her Highness.” A pleasant, refreshing smile later, Yukiya nimbly jumped back onto the giant crow's back. “Now, if you'll excuse me.”

Masuho no Susuki bowed slightly at him and Yukiya gave her a firm last greeting back before taking off. The flashily dressed young noblemen, who had been looking over their exchange with keen interest, followed after Yukiya this time as well—although they were clearly reluctant to do so.

Their group flew away, in the direction of the Imperial Court, as Masuho no Susuki watched over them. With them gone, all that remained on the stage was the ‘medicine’ sent for Sakura no Kimi, the Ladies in Waiting and a small number of warriors who had stayed to help carry the delivered goods to Cherry Blossom Palace.

It was among those warriors that Masuho no Susuki found the face of someone who wasn’t even supposed to be there. Her eyes went wide open. “Sumio, is it really fine for you to be here?"

Sumio had a dark complexion and a somewhat small build for a warrior, and he was always found by his Lord Wakamiya’s side as his bodyguard. His lord, always keen to abuse his infamy at the Court as a ‘fool’, had no qualms to indulge in his bad habit of skipping ceremonies and, to make matters worse, Sakura no Kimi, his wife, didn’t reprimand him—she instead went as far as to willingly help him on occasion. All in all, it was a pain to deal with.

Just the day before, Sakura no Kimi had actually gotten news of Wakamiya secretly escaping from the Court and had left for Sunrise Palace—where Wakamiya had been supposed to be—to act as his literal body double. She wasn't even supposed to ever come out from Cherry Blossom Palace.

Masuho no Susuki had waited with bated breath ever since, hoping her absence went unnoticed by everyone, but the situation had to have somehow resolved itself. Otherwise, Sumio wouldn’t have been there at the event. He ran towards her with a slight, wry smile on his lips and stopped some distance away from her.

“I know we've caused you much worry, but Wakamiya has now returned to Sunrise Palace. Sakura no Kimi should be back here as well tonight—she's at Sunrise Palace right now,” Sumio announced to her in a whisper, low enough that nobody else but Masuho no Susuki could hear him.

“I see.” Masuho no Susuki let out a sigh of relief.

Every single time, it was Sumio and Masuho no Susuki's job to clean up whatever mess Wakamiya and his wife caused by acting irresponsibly. She had gotten quite used to it—a feeling she actually found terrifying when she stopped to think about it, although there was little to no point to complaining after being at it for so long.

The weight on her shoulders now lifted, her mind couldn’t help but to turn towards the events that had just transpired. “Still, what a huge surprise. I knew that Yukiya would be taking on the role of the star shooter, but—”

“I know what you mean…… He has grown up a lot, hasn't he?”

“I mean, yes, that kid was shorter than me last time we met.”

Masuho no Susuki's actual little brother had joined the Unbending Reed Monastery—the same training facility for military officers Yukiya attended—at the same time as Yukiya did. Despite their circumstances, Masuho no Susuki had gotten the chance to meet with her brother from time to time, but his growth rate hadn’t been nearly as dramatic as Yukiya.

“It's as the outer books say, right? ‘If you don't meet a young man for three days, pay attention’(6),” Sumio responded as he smiled wryly.

Masuho no Susuki, on the other hand, quietly muttered, “Seeing him grow makes me happy, but… It does make one feel a bit lonely……”

The source of her turmoil was, most likely, a gnawing feeling of loss. Whenever she thought about how that innocent boy was gone from this world—even if she technically knew it was a good thing and she should be glad for his growth—the sensation that overtook her was one beyond description.

⊛　　　　　⊛　　　　　 ⊛

After finishing up the matters at Cherry Blossom Palace, Sumio flew right back to Sunrise Palace. There awaited the young men who had just recently joined him in the ranks of Wakamiya’s bodyguards. Their nerves were plain on their faces, but their expressions shifted to ones of relief the very second they saw Sumio return. 

Well, not like Sumio could blame them for that.

Their Lord and his wife were found within the annex they were guarding, but the couple didn’t obey common sense and dealing with their sudden whims was still a bit too heavy a task for the new guards. Apparently, they had been trembling with fear at the possibility of receiving some ridiculous order during Sumio's absence.

But Sumio was here now and the young Guards let him pass inside.

“I'm back,” Sumio opened the door and announced his arrival with a very familiar tone—something usually unthinkable from a servant. There, in front of a desk facing the window, was a young couple, their appearances remarkably similar, drinking tea with complete ease.

“Good job out there. How were things at Cherry Blossom Palace?” The handsome young man who asked the question was none other than Sumio's childhood friend and the Lord he had sworn his loyalty to—His Highness Wakamiya. His straight hair was tied at his nape and fell over his light purple kimono. He was dressed casually, with no hakama.

“It all went without a hitch. It may go without saying, but nobody noticed Sakura no Kimi's absence.”

“How was Yukiya?” Sakura no Kimi—Princess Hamayuu, who was dressed in the exact same outfit as her husband, asked with clear amusement. Dressing gown or not, that outfit probably still qualified as male attire, yet it was quite the perfect fit for the tall princess, who was constantly taking the role of Wakamiya's body double.

“That too went without issue. However, I brought a message with me from Lady Masuho no Susuki for Sakura no Kimi—’For all of the world, please, let's not have another ceremony take place in your absence ever again. Also, please, return as soon as possible.’”

Sumio replied to Hamayuu with some degree of respect, but the oddly-dressed princess just cackled in answer. “She doesn't learn her lesson either, huh? She should have figured out by now that I won't listen no matter how many times she asks.” 

“I guess she can't hold herself back from trying,” Sumio spoke a tad emotionally—he felt exactly the same way as her after all. The young couple was, unfortunately, impervious to his tame attempt at sarcasm.

“Anyway, now that Masuho no Susuki has shown her face in front of those noblemen, we'll have quite a commotion awaiting from here on.”

“What do you mean?” Wakamiya asked his wife.

Hamayuu let out a snort. “Isn't it obvious? I mean there’ll be marriage proposals aplenty.”

“I see…” Wakamiya’s eyebrows lowered. “But Lady Masuho has become a nun, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem…”

“Quite the opposite. She let down her guard because she's a nun now and showed her face, and I'm convinced that's going to backfire on her.”

Sumio couldn't help but to agree with Hamayuu’s argument in his mind. Masuho no Susuki had never cut corners when it came to her appearance when she had still been a candidate to become Wakamiya's wife, always dressed in tremendously splendid outfits.

However, ever since she had decided to serve Hamayuu as her Lady in Waiting, she had come to prefer plain outfits with subdued colors. But she wasn’t the princess renowned as the most beautiful in Yamauchi for nothing. Far from diminishing her appearance, it had actually come to highlight her own natural charm and in turn made her stand out even more than before.

The events of the day had been no different in that regard. The young noblemen's eyes had been hopelessly glued on her the entire time as they passed on the medicine, however brief a moment it had been. 

“It's at my discretion as her master to decide whether she returns to secular life or not, after all. Wait for it, I assure you there'll be letters arriving nonstop to Cherry Blossom Palace from tomorrow onwards,” Hamayuu declared as her lips curved upwards.

Wakamiya tilted his head with an ‘uhm’. “And looking at you, it seems you're more than eager to receive such proposals for Lady Masuho?”

“Of course I am! It's Masuho no Susuki we're talking about! To make such a beautiful and good-natured woman waste her life away serving me is no hobby of mine. It would be such a shame, who could do that?” Hamayuu yelled at him. “That said, I have no plans to give her away to some no-good noble. To marry Masuho no Susuki is to quite literally gain the Western House as your ally. There should be someone, right? Someone ready-made for her, in need of the Western House's influence.”

Wakamiya, who had seemingly realized where the conversation was going, grimaced. “Hey……”

“It's a good opportunity. I've told you this many times before, but you really should be taking Masuho no Susuki as your concubine.”

Wakamiya, faced with his legal wife's keen glare, sighed. He was clearly sick of it. “And I've told you this many times before. As nice as gaining the Western House as my ally sounds, the West-affiliated nobles will undoubtedly get carried away if I do that.”

“Do you really think you have the leeway to say that in your current situation? You barely have any allies and, to make matters worse, you have political enemies everywhere. Shouldn't you secure your position first, even if that means turning a blind eye to those who use their lineage to throw their weight around?”

“And I’m telling you that's absolutely not a problem I can turn a blind eye to. This is a topic that concerns the future course of the Imperial Family, I must not cheap out on my methods.”

“You say that, but where's the meaning in that if you get killed for taking things too slowly?”

The conversation had gotten to a point beyond the realm where Sumio could even dare to open his beak. And so, under their bodyguard's watchful gaze, their very un-couple-like argument kept escalating further and further.

“Don't fuck with me, what's even your problem with Masuho no Susuki!? That girl will certainly be a good mother. If I were a man, I would have taken her as my legal wife without hesitation! Are you freaking blind?” Hamayuu picked Wakamiya up by the collar.

“Your logic is off. It's not like I have any problem with Lady Masuho.”

“Of course you don't! If you had said otherwise, I would have had to do you the favor of destroying your sorry ass here and now.”

“Wait a moment. What even are you to Lady Masuho?”

“I'm Masuho no Susuki's master and your wife. It's me of all people who's telling you it's fine to go with it. What other issue can you have to not take her as your concubine?”

“It's nothing but issues. Anyway, I’m not taking Lady Masuho as my concubine, I won't back down on this.” 

While he didn't resist Hamayuu's grip, Wakamiya remained otherwise unyielding. Hamayuu finally clicked her tongue and, all of a sudden, dropped him. Sumio took some newly poured cold brewed tea and quietly placed it in front of them. 

——The exchange had been a bit violent, but Sumio knew very well that, for this oddball couple, it was just some form of play.

Hamayuu promptly accepted the glass teacup and drank it all in one go. That done, she stared at Wakamiya with squinted eyes. “...... I’ve realized as much, you know? That the Western House's Lord and Heir must be begging you to take her as your concubine. Won't it become a problem for you to disregard their wishes like that?”

Wakamiya, who had been quite a bit more well-mannered while drinking his tea, left the translucent cup on the floor with a clink. “Even if that's the case, my stance is the same. I can't take Lady Masuho as my concubine, given how it will affect power dynamics.”

“No matter what?”

“No matter what.”

Hamayuu’s face was one of disappointment—and it most definitely wasn't an act on her part. “Then, what are you planning to do? To keep Masuho no Susuki as a nun is just too much of a waste.”

This time around, Wakamiya nodded in agreement. “I feel the same, yes. If possible, I would want her to play a role in strengthening the ties between the Four Houses.”

Hamayuu's expression changed as she focused on giving him an earnest proposal. “Are there any suitable young noblemen among the Four Houses, though? At least for ones that come to mind now, there's only Aotsugu from the East and Kiei from the North, but……”

“Both of them must already have legal wives, and there's no way I'm sending Lady Masuho away as a concubine.”

“Then we are left with no option but to extend our criteria to branch families. That said, that comes with a problem—finding someone with a high enough status to fit in with the Western House.”

Both of them groaned as they wondered what to do. Sumio, who had been listening to the conversation in silence until then, cleared his throat lightly.

“Sumio, what's wrong?”

“Do you have any good ideas, perhaps?”

They both turned towards him with the same exact expression on their faces. Sumio smiled wryly. 

“...... I don't know if it's a good idea, but—I do have a suggestion.”

⊛　　　　　⊛　　　　　 ⊛

Green rain fell ruthlessly all over the Unbending Reed Monastery's roof tiles, but the rain drops dripping unceasingly from the building’s eaves were clear and its interior remained isolated from the grey world outside the walls.

“Sorry, Yukiya, you shouldn’t have to help me like this,” Shigemaru said with a frown, his big body hunched over. Yukiya, however, laughed lightly in response.

“It's fine. We’ll take care of this in just a minute.”

Due to the rain and at the Instructors’ convenience, the day's practical courses had been replaced instead by theory and, while Yukiya himself had finished the assignment quickly, he had chosen to stay to patiently explain everything to his best friend, who was as compassionate as he was bad at theory subjects. 

To become part of the organization in charge of the protection of Yamauchi's rulers—the Yamauchi Guard—you had to first enter its training facility, the Unbending Reed Monastery. It required the recommendation of someone influential and enduring three long years of training, so it was a grueling process and dropouts were a matter of daily life.

They had to learn not only arts like swordsmanship or archery, but other practical skills like horsemanship—where they learned how to ride horses and how to fly themselves—and theoretical subjects like Etiquette and Law as well. This methodology was known as the Six Arts, Four Techniques and Two Studies.

They had plenty to learn about theory during their first year at the Monastery, but their studies were much more focused on the practical from the second year onwards. In other words, the evening was essentially a break for the trainees, at least once they were finished with their mostly meaningless assignment, and had in consequence mostly gone on their merry ways to relax as they pleased.

Class was almost over by the time Yukiya and Shigemaru had managed to clean up the latter's assignment barely enough to be above reproach. They had just stood up, planning to get a snack from the kitchen, when someone else interrupted them.

“Hey, Yukiya! I've heard you have gotten quite popular lately, right?” One of their fellow trainees called out to them.

Yukiya turned towards him. “Wait, popular? What do you mean?”

“Oh, don't play innocent!”

“We heard about it, you know? That you've been getting love letters nonstop ever since the Boys’ Festival happened.”

“They must be from the girls working at Cherry Blossom Palace, aren't they?”

The group of boys looked at Yukiya, all wearing sarcastic smiles. “Well, what can you do? An esteemed nobleman like the star shooter at the Horse Racing Ceremony isn't like the rest of us mortals.”

——So they were jealous and wanted to tease him, huh?

At least then the discussion wasn’t likely to be that serious. Realizing that, Yukiya's lips curved into a wry smile. It wasn’t him who answered their provocations, however, but Shigemaru. “He has rejected them all, though, so I don't think ‘popular' is the right word for it, really.”

Still, Shigemaru’s nonchalant explanation was met with shocked screams. “You gotta be kidding me!”

“What are you? An idiot!?”

“Why would you even waste such an opportunity!?”

“Why become the star shooter if you’re going to do that then!?”

With everyone around snapping at him, Yukiya retorted with disgust. “I didn't really become the star shooter because I wanted to, you know. There just wasn't anybody else who could take on the role, so it fell on me in the end.”

At the moment, a certain young man was reading a book at a corner of the dining hall. His shoulders twitched uncomfortably the second Yukiya spoke, but none of the boys gathering around Yukiya noticed that. Instead, they let out a collective and overdramatic sigh of aggravation. “What a waste.”

“You could have, I don't know, met them at least once?” Despite not being the actual recipients of the letters, they all acted as if it were a personal offense. It was annoying beyond belief.

“But it would be a problem if I did that and they got actually serious about me,” Yukiya hastily argued back, and the mood of the entire hall noticeably dropped.

“This bastard……”

“You piece of shit……”

“You better pay for what you just said one day! And as painfully as possible, I hope……”

Everyone cursed him, their words full of resentment. Among them, only Shigemaru glanced at Yukiya's expression with clear curiosity. “Then, what kind of girl would you actually consider dating?”

“Huh? Shige, are you curious as well?”

“Sure I am! You never talk about these things.”

Faced with his best friend's unexpected interrogation, Yukiya scratched his cheek. “Uhm, well—She must have a birth family to rely on in case something happens to me. Her social status must be similar to mine, and the marriage must be politically advantageous in some shape or form. Plus, she must be able to assess situations calmly and to promise me she won't ever drag romantic feelings into the relationship no matter what. If it were someone like that, I would at least consider it. A bit.”

As far as Yukiya was concerned, his answer was simply serious and sincere, but the looks on everyone’s faces had all simultaneously gone stiff. “That—wasn't what we meant, you know?”

“It wasn’t anything that serious! Just say you like fair skin or a big chest or something.” 

What the hell was wrong with these guys? This entire conversation was now genuinely pissing Yukiya off. “Who even cares about appearances? Everyone ages and gets wrinkles, so it doesn’t change anything? To embrace a beauty, just go to the Red Light District?”

Among an otherwise deafening silence, a low groan escaped from the lips of one of Yukiya's fellow trainees. “...... If I ever run into any girl daring to say that Yukiya is cool or something like that, I’ll just do her a favor and stop her right then and there. No matter what it takes.”

“Same here.”

“Oh, really? If my little sister said she wanted to date Yukiya, I wouldn't actually ask her to reconsider—”

“What the hell, Shige? You’re way too soft on Yukiya!”

“Aren’t you sorry for your sister? Because I sure am now!”

Everyone found themselves at a loss for words as Shigemaru gave Yukiya a somewhat troubled look. “Still, you would be marrying her, why forbid romantic feelings between each other? That’s such a lonely way to live, I feel.”

Yukiya laughed at that. He knew very well how cold-hearted he sounded, and his expression made it obvious.

“Sharing your life with someone just over some ephemeral passion won’t ever make you happy. Once the heat of love dies down, all that remains is a cold, hopeless reality.” That being the case, to not ever drag such feelings into the agreement was much more preferable. Those were Yukiya’s genuine thoughts on the matter. “Besides, politics are going to play a part in any wedding a noble like me could have. There's nothing lonely or fun about it. I don't want anything out of this hypothetical woman—and if she wanted something from me, then that would only trouble me.”

The ruckus surrounding him had been replaced with uncomfortable silence. Shigemaru, meanwhile, looked at Yukiya with pity in his eyes and murmured to him in a quiet and confidential manner, “I wonder, what kind of girl would make you actually fall in love……?”

“I don’t believe such a person will ever appear, and it's not like I want it either.”

Suddenly, a loud thump resounded across the hall. The young man reading, who had remained silent until then, had slammed the book against his desk and stood up in a rage.

“Akeru? What's wrong?”

Akeru, however, didn't pay any mind to the confused trainees questioning him.

“Chihaya!” he raised his voice with clear irritation. “The rain is but a drizzle now. Come with me, I’m going to train.”

In response to Akeru’s calling, Chihaya opened one of his eyes with clear annoyance—up until then, he had been leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. 

Those who didn’t know the finer details of how they had met often concluded that Chihaya was Akeru’s attendant or something of the sort, given he was a lowborn and he attended the Monastery thanks to the support of the Western House, Akeru’s family; but the Unbending Reed Monastery was a meritocracy. The truth was very different—a genius like Chihaya couldn’t stand to watch as Akeru fumbled due to his tendency to lag behind in practical courses and so he curtly looked after him.

While Chihaya would have usually retaliated and poked some fun at Akeru for giving him orders like that, he didn’t this time. He seemed to have an inkling of why Akeru was so upset. His expression instead stuck on resignation, Chihaya followed after Akeru as he left the dining hall without ever opening his mouth.

Although there was rain, the drops didn’t have much strength and the sun was out with no wind.

The determining factor of a horse’s speed wasn’t so much its quality but rather its rider’s skill. Akeru sat on Chihaya’s back, who had transformed into a crow, and flew as fast as he could towards the shooting range. The wind howled as it slammed against his face. Once they reached the landmark Akeru used as a guideline, he lifted his body and drew the bow—but his aim was off and the arrow failed to hit its mark.

“Dammit!”

They passed by the target and Akeru raised his voice again. “One more!” But the giant crow didn’t caw in agreement, instead aiming to head back to the ground. “No, Chihaya, wait! Where are you going!?”

Chihaya glided down and threw Akeru to the ground with a shake once they had almost reached the ground.

“Ouch! What are you doing!?”

“Now, calm down.” Chihaya returned to human form mid-air and smoothly landed right in front of Akeru, who was lying on his butt. That done, Chihaya said matter-of-factly, “Rushing it won’t get you anywhere. Or do you want to fall off a horse again?”

As childish as he knew it was, Akeru couldn’t help but to pout in answer. “But…… If I stay like this, I may not even be capable of taking the Trial of Mist……”

“And you have more than half a year left before that. That’s not why you’re panicking—it’s Yukiya, right?”

Akeru couldn’t argue against that—Chihaya was right on the mark. After all, the first candidate proposed for the role of star shooter at the Boys’ Festival hadn’t been Yukiya, but the scion of the Western House and Masuho no Susuki’s younger brother—Akeru.

It was only once Akeru proved incapable to hit the target no matter what he tried that, left with no other alternatives, the role fell on Yukiya, who originally had no intention whatsoever to participate in the event. For Akeru, it had all been beyond vexing. So much so that he hadn’t even attended the horse racing event altogether, as the idea of acting as Yukiya’s opening performer together with the other noblemen was too much for him to bear.

Yukiya’s social standing wasn’t as high as Akeru’s, but he was still directly related to the current Lord of the Northern House and hence a proper member of the high nobility. However, he had grown up among the rural nobles of North, famed by their warrior clans, and so he was leagues above Akeru at skills in arms. Akeru hadn’t paid much mind to this difference back when they had first joined the Monastery, but the more time passed, the more obvious and wider the gap became.

“There’s no point in comparing yourself to Yukiya. If I had to guess, his eyesight is just that good.” Chihaya was usually a man of few words, so why did he have to become all talkative only at times like these? Or so Akeru inwardly thought in anger. Not like that stopped Chihaya from talking. “And that’s something you’re just either born with, or not. It’s not a problem that hard work can somehow fix.”

After they advanced to their second year, Akeru had gone through a growth spurt that had thrown off his sense of balance. While the same had happened to Yukiya—in fact, he had grown a lot more than him—he had seemingly surmounted the issue with ease. This wasn’t just a matter of eyesight—Yukiya’s talent was, no matter how one looked at it, superior to Akeru’s.

Chihaya sighed at Akeru’s silence. “Don’t you sulk like that. You may be worse than Yukiya at physical skills, yes, but at the very least you still have the better personality.”

He had a serious expression on his face, which actually made it harder to tell whether he truly meant his words or it was all just a joke. Quite the sloppy consolation.

“Thank you, I guess,” Akeru replied bitterly.

Then, Chihaya frowned. “Wait a minute….. Is there something else?”

“...... Nothing in particular.” Akeru looked away in a pointless attempt to avoid Chihaya’s gaze, knowing he could be strangely perceptive. Chihaya, meanwhile, glared at him in question, seemingly unwilling to back off that easily. “—Ah, fine! But you have to keep it a secret for now, got it? The truth is that my sister has gotten some marriage proposals.”

“Oh?”

“And the main candidate as of now is—Yukiya, apparently.”

Chihaya’s eyes went wide open.

“...... Now, that’s—” His words died down there, but Akeru could feel Chihaya’s condolences clear in the air. “To have that as your brother-in-law is……”

“It’s a humiliating prospect, but that’s still fine. But you heard how cruel he was when talking about a prospective wife…”

If his sister were to actually marry Yukiya, Akeru genuinely believed that she would lead a horribly unhappy life. However, his sister wasn’t yet aware of it and the ones actually moving the proposal forwards were their families, so Akeru couldn’t even protest. Hence, he ended up essentially running away.

Chihaya crossed his arms, apparently having grasped the subtext of Akeru’s words. “So that’s why you acted like that before.”

“Childish, right?”

“I do get why, though.”

Akeru, still on the ground, held his head in despair. He hated this entire situation. “What should I do if Yukiya and my sister end up actually engaged……?”

Chihaya was watching Akeru with pity in his eyes as he groaned pathetically when someone else joined the conversation. “—Well, you have no more need to worry, it seems.”

The voice came suddenly and out of apparently nowhere. Akeru raised his head in surprise. There, under the shade of the training hall’s building, he found a familiar face.

“Sumio!” He was an alumnus of the Unbending Reed Monastery. Despite his lowborn status, he had graduated as the first of his class and entered service as His Highness Wakamiya’s bodyguard. Sumio approached them, raising his hand in greeting as Chihaya did the same with his eyes. Flustered, Akeru stood up. “Sorry for my rudeness. Uhm, still, why are you here?”

“I was searching for you, actually. As I said just a moment ago, this concerns your sister’s marriage. It was canceled.”

“Eh—?” A screech escaped Akeru’s lips. “Canceled? What the hell happened?”

Sumio scratched his head bashfully. “Well, about that. We thought that Yukiya wouldn’t go against it as long as it was an order, so the matter was first brought up to Masuho no Susuki and—she absolutely hated the idea.”

⊛　　　　　⊛　　　　　 ⊛

Much like they had expected, letters written by the many young noblemen who had fallen in love at first sight with Masuho no Susuki arrived like a veritable storm to Cherry Blossom Palace. Everyone would ask for her to return to secular life and for being given the honor of taking her as their legal wife. 

While Masuho no Susuki herself paid none of them any mind whatsoever, a request to discuss the matter from her master, Sakura no Kimi and Wakamiya was a different matter altogether. Apparently, she had meekly listened to their talk about marriage in complete silence at first. Her behavior, however, shifted the very second Yukiya’s name came up as the prospective husband.

“You have to be kidding me! Why else would Yukiya’s name even come up here?” Masuho no Susuki asked them with her big eyes wide open, as dumbfounded as she was furious. “And here I was wondering what prompted a formal discussion! I was willing to go through with it if it was all like, a huge issue coming up among the Four Houses with my marriage as the only real way to solve it. But, no! You’re telling me it’s with Yukiya of all people! Are you messing with me!?” Masuho no Susuki screamed, boiling with anger. “This is a pointless marriage, no matter how you put it! What were you even thinking to propose it?”

Sakura no Kimi had apparently not expected such an explosive reaction, as her bold and fearless self was nowhere to be seen. She was unusually pale. “Well, but you see, Masuho no Susuki! You’re at the peak of your beauty. I can’t bring myself to keep you here sequestered at Cherry Blossom Palace, so……”

“And that’s none of your business!” Masuho no Susuki spouted with anger, very much unlike her usual self as well. “I became a nun very much willingly, thank you, and yet you’re ignoring my wishes altogether and moving this entire thing along without me!?”

She glared at Hamayuu, her red, glossy lips twisted into a grimace. This time around, Wakamiya, with a somewhat troubled look on his face, tried to appease her instead. “Please, do at least try to look at it from the bright side instead. It’s because this isn’t a matter of necessity that we didn’t plan to move things forwards any further without your approval. We just thought that maybe, if it was Yukiya, you wouldn’t be wholly against the idea…”

The second Wakamiya said that, however, Masuho no Susuki’s expression went blank. “...... What did you say?”

“Am I wrong?”

“Who suggested such an idiotic thing?” she asked in a quiet voice. It made it all the more terrifying.

Even Wakamiya, ignorant as he was of the intricacies of romantic love, seemed to have realized how bad the situation was, albeit belatedly. He immediately closed his mouth, but his eyes wandered and, for a second, pointed in Sumio's direction. Masuho no Susuki turned around violently and glared at Sumio, who had been waiting on the side in silence.

“I see. Now that I think about it, you would be the only one in a position to say such a thing.”

Resigned to his fate, Sumio nodded lightly in acknowledgement. “My apologies, I have no excuse.”

“Why?”

“Your eyes were following Yukiya around during the Boys’ Festival.”

“That’s—I mean, yes, he did an impressive job as the star shooter, but I was moved seeing him all grown up as one would a little brother, not… it most definitely wasn’t like that. So you better keep all those vulgar suspicions off your mind!”

The more Masuho no Susuki spoke, the more she got worked up. Her lips were trembling and her eyes, the deep color of amber, were glistening.

“...... I’m extremely sorry. I jumped to conclusions.”

“I’m not forgiving you. This is an insult to both Yukiya and I.” Masuho no Susuki, who had just been taking slow breaths in an attempt to calm herself down, stood up in a fury as she pointedly glared at Sumio. “I’ve thought this for a while, but I can’t keep it to myself any longer after this. I have nothing but disdain for that side of yours, don’t come close to me ever again!”

After crying out those last few words, Masuho no Susuki shed a tear and left Cherry Blossom Palace.

“Hey, wait, Masuho no Susuki!” All flustered, Hamayuu went after her. Wakamiya and Sumio were left behind in an uncomfortable silence.

⊛　　　　　⊛　　　　　 ⊛

“—And that’s what happened. Masuho no Susuki made Wakamiya and Sakura no Kimi promise they wouldn’t ever again push anything marriage-related on her without permission, so I don’t think there will be any more engagements coming for the time being.”

Akeru couldn’t stop himself from breathing a sigh of relief. “I see…”

His heart broke for his sister—to think that she had hated the idea to the point of crying. Still, it was a much more preferable experience than to have such an undesired marriage actually happen. His mood lifted knowing the whole talk was no more, but he found that the anguish was now replaced by resentment towards Sumio, the very source of the problem. 

“Still, why did you even think Yukiya was right for my sister? He’s a cold-hearted bastard—he said one of his conditions for a wife is to not bring love into the marriage. There’s no way he would ever be a good fit for her, right?”

While his tone came out slightly accusatory, Sumio didn’t seem at all bothered by that. Instead, he gave him a weak smile. “I know that’s what Yukiya says.”

“Then, why?”

“Well, it’s precisely because he says those things that I thought it would work out……” 

Incapable of comprehending what Sumio was trying to tell them, Akeru looked at him dumbfounded.

“What do you mean?” Chihaya asked instead, and Sumio groaned in answer.

“Well, you see, if we’re talking about Yukiya’s harsh manners—in a manner of speaking, to me it feels like the logic at work is the same as Wakamiya’s when he asked Sakura no Kimi in marriage.” According to Sumio, when Wakamiya asked Hamayuu to become Sakura no Kimi, his words were tremendously cutting. “‘I’ll never be a good husband for you and it doesn’t mean I’m in love with you. Depending on politics, I may have to take on a concubine or I may have to betray you. Despite it all, you won’t be allowed to complain. If you’re still fine with it, then I’ll take you’—so he said.”

“Now that too is… quite the love confession.”

After hearing such a thing, what woman would gladly accept the terms? None, as far as Akeru was concerned. He couldn’t fathom what Princess Hamayuu was even thinking when she agreed to that.

“Well, it’s a terrible way to say it when you look at it from outside, right? But I knew the situation Wakamiya was in when he asked her that, so to me those words were just him being fully honest with her.”

Wakamiya had plenty of enemies at the Imperial Court and a change of government could happen no matter how much Wakamiya fought back and, regardless of his wishes, he could well find himself in a situation where his only real option was abandoning his wife. In fact, Wakamiya could easily be the one to die first. As a ruler, he could be in a position where calling someone special, whispering his love, was not allowed to him.

——‘Even then, would you still be my wife?’

“In those circumstances, promising her certain happiness would have been the same as deceiving her.”

‘It will be hard going, but I still want you by my side. I want you to choose me fully knowing where we stand’.

“Personally, I can place my trust much more easily on someone like that than on some irresponsible guy willing to spout sweet words he doesn’t mean. And as far as I see it, Yukiya is the same,” Sumio said quietly. “There were apparently some very difficult circumstances surrounding his birth and, on top of that, he swore his loyalty to Wakamiya. He has made his peace with not knowing what may happen to him tomorrow, but to not make a spouse unhappy means being careful like that.”

Akeru was left speechless. Meanwhile, Chihaya just watched Sumio intently with an unreadable expression.

Sumio sighed sadly. “Besides, and this is between you and I, I was there as Wakamiya and his wife thought of marrying Masuho no Susuki off without even the slightest concern for her own opinion on the matter. I wasn’t fine with that, as you may guess, so I just wanted things to at least go in a slightly better direction for her, but……”

It had, by all appearances, the opposite effect.

Still feeling conflicted after Sumio’s explanation, Akeru timidly spoke, “My sister must be of a mind to only be with someone she loves, so…… of course she would be angry at being paired with someone willing to say such horrible things, someone like Yukiya. Even if he has a proper reason for it.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Sumio murmured, frowning ever so slightly with his gaze distant, lost somewhere else. “...... And yet, the look in Masuho no Susuki’s eyes when she looked at Yukiya was so intense.”

He must have been looking at her a lot, Akeru suddenly noticed. Before he could follow that line of thought, however, Sumio raised his head and gave them a bright smile, full of energy. “Anyway, I just came to tell you that. You won’t need to worry about your sister for a while.”

“You have my heartfelt gratitude.”

“But now that I’m here, I guess I may as well watch you train,” Sumio announced cheerfully.

Before Akeru could say a word, Chihaya answered, “We’ll be in your care then. Could you give him an example of what to do?”

“Sure thing. Are you fine with being the horse?” Silently, Chihaya transformed into a crow. Sumio looked at him with satisfaction and nodded. “Good. Then, let’s get going.”

Chihaya, with Sumio on his back, flew high into the sky. He took quite the long detour, putting so much distance between him and the training spot that it was almost overdoing it. Akeru found himself thinking about how they must have gotten quite far when, suddenly, the blurry shadow of a bird came into his sight. He let out a gasp.

While Akeru had seen Chihaya fly as a crow innumerable times during training, it was the first time he had seen him speed up like that. From what he was seeing, it had to be about as fast as his top speed without anyone riding him. It had to be too much—how was Sumio even going to shoot a bow while riding that fast?

The rider and mount approached Akeru by the minute, but Sumio was leaning towards Chihaya’s back so perfectly he was virtually melded into it, making it impossible to tell he was even there. Right as Akeru realized that, Sumio lifted his body from his mount, as light as a feather dancing on the wind.

In a matter of seconds, Sumio pulled out an arrow and shot it. It was so fast that Akeru couldn’t even tell how he had done so in the first place—his eyes couldn’t follow the motion. By the time he processed what had happened, Chihaya and Sumio had already flown past him like a storm, and an arrow adorned with white feathers had landed right in the middle of the target. Sumio was terrifyingly quick and precise.

“Did you get to see it properly?” Sumio asked as he and Chihaya returned and the latter relaxed his wings, but Akeru just stood there dumbfounded. He couldn’t believe what he had just seen.

“...... I didn’t quite get what I saw.”

Sumio jumped off from Chihaya’s back, and the latter immediately returned to human form. “No wonder. It’s the first time I managed to fly that fast when ridden.”

“Well, appearances aside, I’m part of the Yamauchi Guard, you know? It would be an embarrassment if I lost against a mere trainee,” Sumio laughed well-naturedly.

“You were even better than Yukiya. You could have well taken the role of star shooter at the horse racing ceremony instead!”

“Me? No way! I’m not a noble, remember?” Sumio retorted without hesitation and Akeru’s chest tightened as if someone had clutched his heart. “Hey, Akeru. I know Yukiya is brilliant, so I understand why you’re panicking. But some things people are just born with or without. There’s nothing more futile than to compare yourself and envy others over something like that, something you can’t hope to fix. So, don’t you think it would be better to consider what you can achieve with what you actually possess instead?”

——Most likely, the man in front of him felt the truth of those words much more acutely than Akeru ever did.

Akeru remained silent as Sumio watched over him—his eyes were so gentle. “Chihaya and I are above you as far as talent as a warrior goes, but no matter how skilled we are, when it comes down to politics, we have no footing whatsoever to stand against the men at the Imperial Court.”

“That’s……”

“You know what I mean, right? We don’t have the status.”

In politics, Akeru was acknowledged just by virtue of his birth. But being told so just made him feel like Sumio was mocking him. “But that’s—!”

“You were born as a noble here in Yamauchi and it’s fine for you to use that as your weapon. We have our bodies and you have your status, what’s the big difference? The problem here is what you use that weapon for, don’t you think?”

It felt like Sumio’s keen eyes were piercing him. Akeru, still unconvinced by his arguments, refused to answer.

“I think that it would be a waste for you to get greedy and attempt to do too much at once, coming out the other side achieving everything by halves and mentally crushed. You have the high status and the bright mind, plus a virtuous character to not let that go to your head. What you lack may look desirable, but you realize no amount of complaining will change that, right?” Chihaya clapped his hands wordlessly. His look was the one of someone who had been wanting to say that all along. “Akeru, you may not be able to become a good bodyguard, but you can become a good vassal. Are you really unhappy with that?”

It was as if Sumio was testing him. His question made Akeru feel like crying.

“...... No.”

“That’s good then.”

And yet—and yet! Akeru bit his lips. “Still, it’s so frustrating!”

“—It is, right? Frustrating,” Sumio repeated the word as he sighed, his tone giving him away.

Afterwards, once Akeru ran to retrieve the training saddle and Sumio was watching him go, Chihaya approached him without a sound. “Are you truly fine with this?”

Sumio turned around with a start. Faced with Chihaya’s silent stare, a forced smile appeared on his lips—the boy had seen through him, it seemed.

“...... It’s not like I can do anything about it.” It was the one thing he couldn’t help or change. No matter what he did. “She may hate me and give me the cold shoulder, but I at least thought it would be fine for me to wish her a bit of happiness.”

Ah, and yet—it was so frustrating.

As he spoke, Sumio slowly shot an arrow. An impressive shot that landed right in the middle of the target, as if it had sucked it in.

—---—---—---—---—---—---—---—---—---—---

1: The original title is しのぶひと, in hiragana, which I'm interpreting by pure logic as 偲ぶ人. The main meaning of the verb 偲ぶ is to recall, which is what you may find in japanese-to-english dictionaries, but it has more than one meaning. The second, which I consider the intended here, is "心引かれて、思いをめぐらす。慕わしく思う" or "To muse of a heart stolen. To yearn."

2: The Boys’ Festival (端午の節句) or Boys’ Day celebration, also known as the Feast of Flags, takes place every May 5th in Japan. Within the story of Yatagarasu, it’s noteworthy for its second day being when Wakamiya, Yukiya and Kazumi go to spy on Cherry Blossom Palace and Yukiya is thrown down the cliff, being seen transforming by Asebi and the others. Wakamiya was, in fact, supposed to visit that day bringing the offerings.

3: Medicine Hunting (薬狩) was an actual component of the Boys’ Festival in ancient times, although it’s now lost to time. They would indeed get deers’ antlers, mugwort, irises and similar medicinal materials. The scent bags were also a historical element of the festivities, being made with the gathered materials with the idea of helping with keeping people healthy during the following rainy season. These scent bags would stay until September 9th, the Chrysanthemum Festival.

4: The term refers explicitly to Shinto rituals, but Yamauchi has no concept of Shinto.

5: The nine-colored deer (九色の鹿) has its roots as a sacred beast in a buddhist jakata tale, but it’s also known to appear in the Konjaku Monogatarishū (今昔物語集), a recopilation of japanese folktales written during the 12th century and other ancient tales. Much like the name implies, its fur is supposed to be of nine colors.

6: Sumio here is quoting the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The specific excerpt (which has since become a saying in Japan) originally referenced Lü Meng, a general who came to serve under Sun Quan, during his youth. It’s essentially used to express that you must never underestimate how fast a young man can grow, both literally and metaphorically. “Outer book” here means any book coming from Outside of Yamauchi.

[trishq]

My theory on the newest Life Series!

This started as a couple sentences and turned into an entire essay..

With the teaser we saw on Oli’s stream as well as posted to Grian’s insta this is my personal yap on what I think everything may mean. Take this as a grian of salt i am just a girl and her insane ramblings.

SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING UNDER THE CUT!!

THE TEASER ITSELF

In the teaser it started with three hearts red yellow green they then stretch to form a clock the yellow being the clock hands and the green and red forming the edges of the clock. The clock hands tick backwards about two times before everything swirls into a circle before forming a infinity symbol. As the clock is circling we see the evo sybol as it briefly flashes. The infinity symbol then forms a closed eye. The eye opens, it has a purple iris and it looks to the left then to the right before blinks as it zooms out. We then see July 2025 and a heart with half of the heart black in the style of a life series logo. At the end the eye and the three hearts briefly flashes with the last frame being the three hearts but greyscale and an upside down eye.

PAST LIFE

This is genuinely a pretty solid theory because the teaser definitely hints towards it. The clock ticks backwards which would obvousillt hint going back in time (seen below). There were multiple hints to Evo including the Evo sign and a watcher eye maybe hinting at going back to something like Evo(also seen below). A concept could be that as the series progresses we get closer to 1.21.5 from session to session starting in beta like how evo went OR we could go BACK in time although i feel this is unlikely because as you go back in time to earlier versions of minecraft its easier to die and the pvp is worse which wouldnt really lend itself to a finale episode and/or final fight. And at the end of each episode they go to the portal to the next update like they did in Evo in a sort of secret life style thing when they all collected at the secret keeper to end each episode they go to the portal to the next update like they did in Evo in a sort of secret life style thing when they all collected at the secret keeper to end each episode. Another concept could be that the players have to find the portal around the map and each episode the location changed. This concept is unlikely with the small map size but i am just writing down anything that comes to mind. Grian also mentioned in Olis' stream “Everyone is excited for this one” and this may be a reach because everyone is always excited for a life series but with the theory of Past Life and with so many lifers being on Evo I think it would add extra hype if it was an evo focused series.

GENERAL LIFE SERIES YAP

With the teaser being on Oli's stream i definetly think he will be on the life series because if hes not then Grian would've just dropped it onto his insta. I am so hyped for Oli on the Life Series because i love his streams but this man does not upload videos that often let’s be honest.

I also think the heart we saw in the " July 2025" (as seen below) will be the logo for this life series like how we had the dice for wilde life and the sand timer for limited life. I will also like to point out how the heart kinda looks like the heart we see on Grian merch website, i dont think this is a link to anything instead it being a coincidence I just noticed and wanted to point that out. I also think that the purple circle that we saw with the eye may be a big thing.

I think this series may have something that will connect two or all players. I think it maybe something like what we saw in Double Life how two soulmates were connected. This is honestly a shot in the dark but here is why I think this, in the teaser we saw an inifity symbol, a heart only half colored in, and we saw the green and red heart circling around eachother to form a clock (all of these are shown below). I think the infinity symbol hints to players having to connect and the heart shows the players will need to find their other half, lastly my biggest stretch i think the green and red heart circling eachother could potentially show how players will need to team up to complete tasks or just make it through the series. Tbh this is a massive stretch and honestly doesn't make that much sense but i thought of it so it's going here.

I think there's going to be a connection to the watchers/evo like we saw in Secret Life with the secret keeper and the (almost) evo symbol since we saw the actual evo symbol and the eye.

At the end we saw the three hearts but greyscale do i have a theory on what this means? No but I feel I should include it into my general yap since it was part of the teaser. Another thing i noticed but don't have a theory on is that they iris of the eye is just a circle and not colored in, i think this is a stylistic choice though. We also see an upside down eye at the very end before the greyscale hearts.

I think that there may be color based roles like we saw in Secret Life because in the first frames we see the hearts and the red and green have a little shine but yellow doesnt have one? And with the way the colors circle around the yellow clock hands. I am now re-reading this and realize i sound insane because I don't think Grian would add that to the teaser and go that in depth but it's a shot in the dark I guess we'll see. Future Trish here, the yellow heart has a shine I was just going insane this is what being a life series fan does to you i guess.

This is what the brain of an insane Life Series fan looks like i hope you enjoyed my ramblings.

[saanea]

Elsa and albinism

Summary:

My edit Albinism Testimonials My headcanon

My edit

After seeing several edicts of the albino version of Elsa, I also wanted to do an edict of Elsa as a child, but it's not perfect. This person did it better than me.

Edits by diahanach ⤵

Albinism

Albinism is a rare, non-transmissible genetic disease that is inherited regardless of ethnicity. This rare genetic disorder affects pigmentation and is characterized by a deficit in melanin production. It can take several forms, depending on the genes responsible, with some forms affecting only the eyes and others affecting both eyes and skin. This genetic disease can result in a total absence of melanin pigment in the iris and integuments (epidermis, hair and body hair), despite the normal presence of pigment cells or melanocytes. Albinos are generally characterized by very light skin and hair.

However, albinism does not affect overall health, but they will need specific sun protection because their skin is sensitive to the sun and can develop skin cancer, and they also need eye care. There are several types of albinism, and the severity of the condition can vary according to the people affected. In terms of the color spectrum, they may have a full spectrum of colors, but on the other hand they may have certain visual peculiarities that affect their color perception and visual acuity. In some countries, people with albinism suffer discrimination, poverty, stigmatization, violence and even death. In some countries, women who give birth to a child with albinism are repudiated by their husbands, and their children are abandoned or victims of infanticide.

Although albinism is a genetic disease, it remains purely genetic. For a person to be born albino, both parents must carry the albinism gene. A parent carrying the gene is not necessarily albino, but if both parents carry the gene, they will have a 1 in 2 chance of having an albino child. If one parent out of 2 carries the gene, the child will not be albino, but will have a 50% chance of carrying the gene. If neither parent is a carrier, the child will be neither albino nor a carrier. If both parents have albinism, the child will also be albino.

Here are some links if you want to know more about albinism:

Testimonials

First testimonial: How Frozen's Elsa helped a little girl with albinism.

“Elsa from Frozen is recognisable the world over, but for one family she is more than just a Disney character. Canadian folklorist and journalist Emily Urquhart explains how the Queen of Arendelle became a positive role model for her daughter's albinism.”

“It is my daughter's first day at school and I nestle Sadie into line amongst her kindergarten classmates. Despite her many layers, strands of white hair poke out from beneath her hat and over the neck of her scarf. The little boy standing behind her leans in for a better look and shouts out "Hey, you have hair just like Elsa!" For the uninitiated, Elsa, is the popular protagonist of the animated box office hit, Frozen. As a princess she is able to conjure up ice castles with her fingers and when her powers get out of control, locks herself away to protect her court. For my daughter, the comparison is positive. Princess culture makes me cringe for all its misogynistic old-fashioned values, and yet, I'm alright with Elsa, who first appeared in 2013 when Sadie was three. Not because she's a strong female lead without a prince-driven narrative, but because she has white hair like my daughter. The difference is, Elsa's hair is a manifestation of her icy prowess and Sadie has albinism - meaning she has little to no pigment in her hair, skin and eyes and wears glasses to correct what she can of her low vision.”

“The little boy who noticed my daughter's hair is just one of thousands of people who have remarked on her ivory locks. It began in the delivery room as half the hospital came to "see the white-haired baby" - only the janitor suggested she might have a genetic condition. On average we hear up to five comments a day - from "wow, her hair is really white" to "did you bleach her hair? or "are you Swedish?". Now, I am so accustomed to hearing comments I barely register them, but then, as a new mother, those remarks emphasized my concerns for her future. A few years later and strangers began likening Sadie to Elsa and it was as if this ubiquitous Disney character somehow normalised my daughter's difference. For now, my daughter is a Frozen fan, so this works and gives people a positive hook to hang their comments on, although I do worry when Elsa is jettisoned in favour of other, new, characters. Traditionally however, Hollywood has not been so kind. Characters who resembled people with albinism have been the villain, an evil other who is frightening and strange. Films like The Matrix Reloaded with Keanu Reeves and TV series Doctor Who have all used evil or strange "albino" tropes, but this is just one strand of mythology that surrounds this condition. Sadie was born when I was studying for my PhD in folklore at Memorial University, Newfoundland and I found myself drifting away to research albinism and other cases of human differences in folklore.”

Source :

Second testimony: “I can't get her to be anything else”: Mother of a four-year-old girl with Albinism reveals how her daughter has found confidence again by dressing up as Elsa from Frozen.

● Hailey Brown was initially overwhelmed to discover her firstborn had Albinism

● She and daughter Arliyah were often approached by strangers touching her hair

● Things began to change when a child said the little girl looked like Princess Elsa

● Arliyah thinks she is Elsa and proudly shows her sister who also has Albinism

“A young girl with Albinism has found confidence in herself from an unexpected place - Disney's famous film, Frozen. Four-year-old Arliyah Brown, from Queensland, had been the subject of stares and sometimes cruel questions before the film was released and another child pointed out she looked like Princess Elsa. After watching the film, Arliyah now believes she is Elsa, and will take any opportunity to dress up as her possible.”

Source :

Here are photo portraits of women with albinism in the 19th century: 

Emma Millie LeMar Morrissey

?

Young Nellie Walker with her brother

Nellie Walker

My headcanon

A few days ago I imagined and improvised a scenario based on these edicts, some theories about Elsa being albino and what I've learned about albinism. Without realizing it, I've sort of created my own headcanon about Elsa's albinism and I want to share it here.

Elsa hides her albinism as well as her powers all these years.

Ever since she was a child, Elsa has always known that she is albino, and the doctor and dermatologist regularly came to examine her to see if she had any other problems. In the 19th century, medicine wasn't as developed as it is today, so doctors did their best, but some patients were mistreated. The doctor who regularly came to examine Elsa gave little information to Agnarr and Iduna (the parents), and Elsa didn't know much about it either. One day, Agnarr and Iduna wanted to know more about albinism. The doctor didn't want to worry them, but they really wanted to know more for their eldest daughter. They were already aware that she could have skin and eyesight problems, Iduna often made her a cream that was both moisturizing and protective against the sun, and Elsa saw an ophthalmologist from time to time who recommended a pair of resting glasses with anti-reflective lenses and eyeglasses just in case, but they knew nothing more. I mentioned above, with the help of an article to which I've also provided a link, that albinos are discriminated against, abandoned by their parents and sometimes abducted from their families and killed. This is what the doctor explained to them in order to warn them and preserve the child. In those days people were quite religious, but some were quite superstitious and believed in prejudices, for example in some countries there were beliefs that people with albinism brought good luck, so sometimes they sold their hair or whatever, and in some countries albinism was considered to be something bad.

How did Elsa hide her albinism?

This idea didn't come from her (she was only about 8 years old) or her parents, it came from the doctor who recommended that they have the make-up artist from the castle come and put coloring henna on her eyelashes and eyebrows. For those who don't know what henna is, here's a picture:

“Henna, known scientifically as Lawsonia inermis, is a flowering plant that has been used for centuries for its cosmetic, medicinal and cultural properties.”

Agnarr and Iduna had initially refused to color their eldest daughter's eyelashes and eyebrows, but the doctor insisted, so they desperately agreed. The henna can last 3 to 4 weeks before it fades and disappears. A few days later, I can imagine that the isolation had taken place and Anna didn't remember much except that she and Elsa were accomplices. Every 3 or 4 weeks for 13 years, the make-up artist applied henna to her eyes, and the ophthalmologist recommended that she wear colored contact lenses, which would turn her eyes an ordinary blue.

Have you noticed that Elsa often wears long sleeves?

After “Let it go”, although she now leaves her shoulders free, most of her outfits still have long sleeves, even in summer. The only time she wears a short-sleeved outfit is in Frozen fever for Anna's birthday. Anna also wears long-sleeved outfits most of the time, but less than Elsa, she has worn short sleeves at least 4 or 5 times, such as her children's pyjamas at the very beginning of Frozen 1 and 2, as well as the outfit where she sings “Do you want to build a snowman?” when she was still 5, her ball gown on Elsa's coronation day and her Birthday outfit in Frozen fever. It reminds me that Elsa has to keep her skin as safe as possible from the sun.

In my mind, Elsa also has naturally curly hair, and so far wears wigs that are 1 or 2 shades darker than her natural color. In fact, in the concept art for the first film, Elsa had several different hairstyles, and as you can see in some of the concept art, her hair is wavy, almost curly. But this wig idea is a bit crazy. That's all for this article, I'll also talk about Anna and redhead genetics in another article.

❆

I really enjoyed writing this article and couldn't wait to share it here and I hope you've learned a few things too, I love tackling this kind of subject while staying in theme with the Frozen universe. ❄️

[askirissans]

Update guys, Iris isn’t an orphan anymore! Yayyyyyyy!!!

This is basically the first version of Iris (because ya know, there are multiple firewalls, duh)

IRIS 001 does the most important tasks that the average IRIS isn’t capable of completing

Iris’ inside the multiverse handle minor viruses and internal conflicts (cough, cough, X event, cough cough, Ink + Error)

[pruneunfair]

How I think the OG stories of otome isekai would be viewed if they were real.

Sodom and the holy grail (How to get my husband on my side)

From the tidbits of the og story we get, Sodom and the holy grail focused more on politics then romance with the plot being about rebelling against Ruby's father and other corrupt church members, Rudbeckia would be a minor antagonist in the way of the main ship of Izek and the FL Freya and as we are told, the entire Borgia family would've been killed off by Izek after Rudbeckia poisons Ellen. It'd probably be well liked for focusing more on gritty politics and tragedy than shojo romance and as far as we know, Freya wouldn't be a terrible FL since the narrative would have no reason to make her awful: 8.5/10

May rest be at your side (the tyrants only perfumer)

there isn't a lot revealed about this one, only that Ariel was the villainess and the og fl would show up on time instead of waiting to make her big entrance. It looks like a basic rofan so I'll just guess it'd be an underrated and cliché story: 5/10

Snow white (not sew wicked step-mom)

Its literally just another iteration of snow white, so it would have all the basic stuff in snow white. The apple, evil step-mom, magic mirror, dwarves, and a healing kiss. Plus some historical points for the fact that the cannon ending for Abigail in the og story was being forced to dance with burning hot shoes which was how the evil queen died in the Grimms brother version. :7/10

Lovely princess

As the title implies, Jennette is a lovely princess along with her sister Athy. It's been described as a basic unoriginal found family tale with Jennette being loved by everyone including her murderous father with a backstory that she had a wicked mother who used magic to have Jennette. It ends with Athy being unjustly executed for the false crimes of poisoning Jennette while the latter lives on with a happily ever after. This would probably be universally despised if it were a real story for the bullshit reason Athy was killed off and the lack of care for it: 2/10

Lady Lily (the villainess maker)

Its another basic damsel in distress and Prince charming tale that's canonically a dumpster fire since it was written by a 14 year old, from what I could remember Charlotte invents a new form of skirt/dress for women to wear at balls and she catches the eye of a few men, it's so terrible that it ceases to function and ends up in a loop if things dont go according to how they are supposed to, so it's basically the average wattpad fanfic. 1/10 for being such an inconsistent mess the villainess maker plays into how stupid it is.

I don't think this one ever got a name but it's the og-story from Today the villainess has fun again

Iris is a poor Viscounts daughter who sets out on her own and becomes a maid. After a while of hardwork, she finds herself back into regal life after the crown prince and Reilynns fiance takes a liking to her, from there Iris has multiple men to choose from and along the way she opens up a perfume store I think?. This sounds like the type that would do so well on a webtoon but everywhere else would roast the shit out of it and side with Reilynn. 3/10

The flower from another world (divorcing my tyrant husband)

The FL Aisha travels to another dimension where she meets the Emperor and they fall in love. The "villainess" Robelia gets shoved to side and dies while Alexandros makes Aisha the empress. I feel like if this were a real manhwa, they'd probably vilifiy Robelia to justify Aisha butting into another relationship but as is, this story would probably also be despised for its treatment of Robelia. 1/10

Bridgette wants to be happy (Seducing the villains father)

The og plot was Bridgette as the FL and her love interest learning to heal from the traumas of the past that affected their parents lives. Characters would be mostly different since Yerenica and Erudian would be dead and Soleia may not even be a main character, that would be her son Dekalb. So we are talking a tragic story with a happy ending. This sounds like something I would actually read and I can see it being popular if it were real. 9/10

Stop obsessing over me brother! (Not your typical reincarnation story)

Self explanatory. I feel like this would just be some weird as step-bro fetishist crap judging by the title and the fact that Killian and Cliff really are Rhyses de-facto older brothers. Edith really did this one a favor by stepping in: 0/10

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Random Doctor Who Facts You Might Not Know, Part 51

The Eighth Doctor can play multiple instruments, one of which is the violin. (Novel: The Year of the Intelligent Tigers)

The Master tried to use Kamelion's remaining connection to the TARDIS to prevent the Fifth Doctor’s regeneration. (Audio: Winter)

A version of the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn got imprisoned in 1903. The parallel Sixth lost Evelyn, his mind, both of his legs, and after a century, his life. (Audio: Jubilee)

The TARDIS has a Hostile Owner Destruction System, which will destroy the TARDIS and anyone inside of it. (Audio: Island of the Fendahl)

Nyssa is still able to point out where Traken is in the sky from Earth. (Audio: Autumn) The light from its destruction must not have reached Earth yet, so she can see it while there but never return.

Fegax was a student at the Prydonian Academy who tried to use a time drill to protest against the elite, but his time drill did not work. The Fifth Doctor - who was Lord President at the time - fixed it for him and returned it, and Fegax used it to flood the whole Academy. (Audio: Time in Office)

Types of regeneration include the Blur, the Disciplinary, the Explosion (subtype: the Slow Explosion, the Reverse Explosion), the Morph, the Swirl, the White Light, and the Memory Vortex. (Novel: How to be a Time Lord)

The Eighth Doctor was taken over by the Fendahl once. While taken over, Lucie said he glowed. (Audio: Island of the Fendahl)

Anya Kingdom, who traveled with the Tenth Doctor and posed as Ann Kelso in the 1970s for a while, is the niece of Sara Kingdom. (Audio: The House of Kingdom)

The Eighth Doctor has been known to occasionally sing while piloting the TARDIS. (Audio: The Dalek Trap)

As mentioned in other parts, the Forge was an intelligence agency that often experimented with enhanced or alien life. While many of them were obsessed with Lazarus - the project about the Doctor - one Forge member was much more interested in Project: Wildthyme, which was about Iris Wildthyme. She decided to end it by giving them her blood, which damaged their Oracle system and destroyed one of their bases. (Short story: Project: Wildthyme)

In the Psychodrome, memories and nightmares were brought back to life. The twisted way Nyssa perceived the Doctor at first blended with her thoughts on the Master melded the two together to create King Magus. (Audio: Psychodrome)

Galah attended the Academy with the Doctor, but they were never close to each other due to differences in opinion. She was a sculptor, but one day, she landed her TARDIS on an asteroid and created a dreamscape by hooking herself up to her TARDIS's protyon unit. (Novel: Strange England)

Temporal energy smells like roses to time sensitives. (Short story: Ring Theory)

There was a moment in The Waters of Amsterdam (which takes place immediately after Arc of Infinity) where the Fifth Doctor seemingly left Nyssa and Tegan behind, but he rematerialized seconds later. While it was only seconds for Nyssa and Tegan, the Doctor did: Omega, The Burning Prince, Time Crash, The Gates of Hell, Fallen Angels, Empire of the Racnoss (in which he took on a new companion we never learn what happened to), The Lady of the Lake, A Requiem for the Doctor, My Dinner with Andrew, The Furies, Relative Time, and Collision Course. Considering we don't know what happened to Alayna, his new Gallifreyan companion, this is an incredibly incomplete list of his adventures during this time before he went back for Nyssa and Tegan. Talk about a side quest, Doc!

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[iri-desky]

MY ALNST OC COMPENDIUM!

So. I may have created multiple new alnst ocs. Behold all of them picrew'ed. BTW the two images of the white haired guy with the green background are of the same guy. I just couldn't decide which version I liked better.

Note that half of these don't appropriately depict the character as I think they should be depicted so yeah :,) I did the best with what I had.

(Picrew Link is Here!)

Take a peek under the cut for some elaboration on who I think they are so far. 90% of them aren't entirely developed yet lol

(TW: Implied Dysphoria, Implied Suicide, Blood references, alien stage typical death references, and general misery. Honestly just run of the mill alnst besides those first two triggers)

Iris

The "burning north star of the revolution", Iris is owned by a segyein who is (allegedly) an advocate for human rights and recognizing humanity as an equal and intelligent species. She's been the poster child of her segyein's steps in this movement for years, as well as a rare human voice (with her segyein's consent), and more recently her segyein entrusted her with the "responsibility" of spreading the word by participating in Alien Stage as a contestant. Iris took those instructions very, very seriously. A little too seriously--however, her perception of what she's really doing (and what her participating in alien stage despite the center of the actual movement she is allegedly leading means) starts to change when ALNST truly begins.

(Iris was my first ALNST oc! You can find more about her at @iris-the-alnst-oc)

Voice Claim: Aly Spaltro (Lady Lamb)

2. Onyx

As a child, Onyx and his family had been the personal human mannequins of a segyein for years. His face has grown quite recognizable, but in truth, he's an absolute nightmare to deal with for the aliens-- he was never really happy. That said, Onyx's segyein recognized that music calmed him, and he had a decent voice, so, without Onyx' consent, the segyein shoved him into alien stage. His voice grew rather uniquely, which only meant one thing--he was practically guaranteed to end up onstage. Onyx is revolted by the outcome, but he can't help but wonder where he would've been happier, if at all; being a personal doll, or risking his life for the sake of the aliens' entertainment?

Voice Claim: Vic Fuentes (Pierce The Veil)

3. Eryck (the picrew I used for this was so bad in this aspect--Eryck looks older and less boyish than he does here; he looks like a little baby here 😭 plus I couldn't find anything that he'd actually wear in here. Sucks.)

Eryck ran into a roadblock in life a while ago. By a while ago, he means age 5. He felt like there was nothing left for him. Even then, nothing left. So when his surprisingly normal segyein asked him what he wants to do with his life, he said he wanted to go to Alien Stage. His segyein was shocked--isn't that expensive!?-- but hey, if that kid does well in the public eye, all that money will pay itself back...the segyein never really raised Eryck to be a singer or a model or anything of the like, but the fact that Eryck himself wanted to go felt like a sign. So, The Segyein sent him in anyway. Eryck grew fast into a smart, humbly handsome man. Who was still unsatisfied. Just... empty. Eryck hopes that whatever happens in Alien Stage will fill that deep hole in his gut.

Voice Claim: Ela Melo (rainbow kitten surprise)

[If you're wondering. Yes, yes this will be partially a trans metaphor.]

4. Sean (both of the ones with the green backgrounds are him, I just couldn't decide which version I liked better. Also, like Eryck, he's supposed to look a little bit older. He looks a little too much like a femboy here :,] )

A perfectly normal guy. Perfectly normal. Yeah. Definitely. Well, either way, no one knows what his segyein is like or anything. Only that the kid was through a lot when he was young and continued to go through more when he was in anakt. It's very likely that he was the segyeins' favorite test subject. As a result, his brain's been scrambled a lot over the years... sometimes he just says things that don't make sense--or, maybe they just make sense to him. Imagine you're just lying on the grass and he confronts you with a complex and nonsensical metaphor that literally just means it's a nice day out, all without batting a single eyelash. Either way, he has good intentions. He just doesn't know how to interact with people. However, nowadays, he doesn't try much. Alien Stage is coming. He finds it hard to try with the other humans now. He just wants to give the aliens a good show. That'll be the end of it.

Voice Claim: Dave Bayley (Glass Animals)

5. Jewel (she should also look a little older)

A previous winner of alien stage. She SHOULD be participating in this next season... yet she, according to her segyein, "disappeared" before the next season could be organized. None of the public knows what actually happened to her. Well, there's probably a reason that her segyein doesn't want to enter another pet human, and it probably has to do with the fact that a faint scent of blood had come from her chamber that day, and the segyein still had no role in her disappearance...

Voice Claim: Deborah Harry (Blondie)

6. ??? (He should also look a tiny bit older. But only a little.)

The 2nd-place winner and last loser in the last season of ALNST. No one has ever seen an alnst contestant fight so hard before in the last round. He sung so loud his voice gave out--he even coughed blood onstage. Unfortunately, as soon as he lost his ability to sing, Jewel took over and won the round. Still, his performance left a lasting impression on the entire audience. Some even fear him, and claim that his spirit still haunts the stage. Either way, the whole stage was so chaotic and the lights were so bright, some even tell horror stories of how he managed to slip away while shots were being fired. Either way, this guy...what was his name again? Well, this guy has left a very, VERY lasting legacy behind...hopefully he's happy wherever he ended up.

Voice Claim: Oliver Sykes (Bring Me The Horizon)

7. Uno

A beautiful lady that, in total honesty, probably isnt entirely human. Is she a hybrid? Maybe. Is she a clone? Also maybe. Is she just not human? Yeah, maybe! But either way her DNA shows as not entirely human. Which, unsurprisingly, made her go for a very high price with the segyeins at the auction she was bought at. The dealer refused to allow the owner to change her name, so for a long while her name was just "One"--she changed it to Uno, though, which was allegedly "one" in another human language. She thought it sounded snapper. Might as well embrace whatever the hell she is, right? Well, even she doesn't know what she is--for all she knows, she's technically human but was experimented on when she was young, and now she's forced to be paranoid. It gave her a sense of alienation. Either way, this led to her being good friends with Sean and Thalia. Now she's going to Alien Stage, and gets to be in a round with Thalia--and oh, boy. Does that terrify her. But that's just Tuesday. She's terrified of everything she is, why not be terrified of everything around her?

Voice Claim: Sarah Midori Perry (Kero Kero Bonito)

8. Thalia

She lived in the slums until she was forced in alnst by a cold, corporate segyein. She has been insanely bitter ever since, but being in anakt has taught her the magic of friendship here and there. Either way, she's known to attract people, and has made a lot of friends--her best friend being Uno. She wants to reach out to Iris, as well, but Iris has always seemed detached, no matter how many people want to talk to her. That...also made Thalia bitter. Well, at least she has something (not) to look forward too. She wants to protect the people around her, but the impending doom otherwise known as Alien Stage hangs over her head. She doesn't want to die. She doesn't want Uno to die. Either way, it's a fate she can't escape from and it infuriates her. But, thankfully, she has a plan that could hopefully work for them both! ...Well, here's the thing. It never does.

Voice Claim: Emily Savitri Haines (Metric)

( @alnst-sona-season <- just tagging ya to show yall my babies )

[ghost18sworld]

Journey to the West Au!

Finally I finished it 😭

Sun Wukong.

the monkey king, the great sage equal to the sky.

He was born from a rock in the middle of nowhere, he faced the heavens, until Buddha sealed him for 500 years, he follows the journey to the west alongside a monk, a talking pig, and a sensible and responsible man, also the dragon horse, this group having the objective of seeking enlightenment, together in a journey of action and adventures, killing demons that were going to eat the monk's flesh.

personality: arrogant, proud, cunning, also mischievous, he is also mocking, but he is also someone who knows how to be loyal to the group, even with some internal fights, and sociable and a little suspicious, he likes action more than learning, but he is nice, kind too, he just can't understand or show his affection or the issue of kindness, even if he acts rudely, he is not someone who dares to break promises, he is also a little lost, but he has affection for his group, but he is also a little violent when it comes to fighting, he kills no matter who it is, and he is very curious, just like in the original story of the work, but I added some things

his abilities: clones, 71 transformations, multiplication abilities, freezing, invisibility, teleportation, can jump very far even outside the universe, has the ability to regenerate, and is immortal, has superhuman strength, and also has his staff that can change size as much as he wants, he can also change size, his staff is a very old staff, this staff weighing more than a mountain, since it was difficult to carry, its abilities and the same story from the book.

relationship with the other characters in the AU: the monk, he treats him like a master, respecting and also keeping an eye on security, food and also surveillance, he has a very strong bond of friendship, Bajie, was like a brother to him, an even annoying brother, since he complained or also didn't help much in terms of taking care of the group, due to laziness, gluttony and lust, but even with conflicts, he respects Bajie sometimes, as for Wujing, he treats him like an older brother, and he really takes good care of the group, even making him have good dignity, he has responsibility, more responsibility than Wukong, as for the Amaryllis Iris, well he treats her as an equal, he is even very attached to her, since she seems to be unusual in the group, not because of her being mixed race, but also because she had responsibility and curiosity, she is also someone who really likes to talk about herbs or also insects and the fauna of nature, something that Wukong seemed to like to bring up a subject that he felt curious about, he had a lot of respect for the issue of her keeping The people in line, since she, besides being good at medicine, is also good at survival, as for the six-eared monkey, he doesn't like him very much, well, he talks to him properly, one more thing was, they were born from the same stone, being originally brothers, but the six-eared monkey was born after Wukong, while he is a little older than Wukong, but even so, they are still almost the same, with some differences and of course, but he doesn't stop helping each other and also protecting the group, the dragon horse Youlong... well, it's complicated for Wukong, and it's also rare for Youlong to speak, but he takes care of it and respects it too.

(warning that this is just my alternative version of the journey to the west, being an AU without interfering with the original work, but still following the same thing as the original work, but there are some differences.)

Six-eared monkey

Born from the same stone as Wukong, he was one of the seven wise monkeys, the one who listens and emits the others, and he was the one who perfectly imitated the great sage, deceiving the entire group of pilgrims. He almost died for the great sage, but Iris prevented this, making him follow the same path as the pilgrims in search of enlightenment.

He joined the group of pilgrims, simply because of Iris, since she was the only one who understood his objective, like in the original tale where he kidnapped only the monk, just to replace Wukong and the group, he seemed interested in participating in the journey to the West, but he was killed by Wukong without more or less of his development, so in this version, it is clear that he survived just wanting to join the group, even with difficulties to do so, but he stays, because he kidnapped the monk and Iris, being that, he created a bond with her, a kind of trust, since before, she talked well with him, making him follow her with loyalty too, even if sometimes she has to share his attention and Wukong's.

Drawing on your cell phone is difficult, bro 😮‍💨.

I changed a few things

Personality: Someone cunning and serious, doesn't talk much, since he's been through a lot, he can be mischievous at times, but he's still reserved, someone who somehow knows how to play with the mind very well, or also knows how to emit very well, a bit arrogant, not as proud as Wukong, someone who always keeps an eye on things, and a bit affectionate with someone he trusts, it's hard for him to show any love, affection or care, but he's still polite and also attentive and mischievous on some occasions, he likes to provoke and humiliate, a bit mocking too, but he's still someone who respects other people's space, and even quite protective, his temper isn't short, but sometimes he gets irritated because of Wukong who gets in his way or even disturbs him, and he's curious... less curious than Wukong,He doesn't kill or act like Wukong.

Skills: clones, 65 transformations, can camouflage himself in the shadows, can manipulate shadows, create illusions and also counterattack, can trap the enemy using his shadows, can emit people, has a very sharp ear, since his six ears were very good at hearing at a certain distance, he has teleportation, but can teleport through shadows, his staff is a staff made of silver, but it was a somewhat wild staff, being this staff a little heavier than Wukong's, but still very strong and deadly, can also decrease in size, or can also guard and appear through small shadow portals, (I was inspired by Lego's Monkey Kid monkey), he is unpredictable and silent.

Relationship with the Au characters: he respects the monk, doing everything the monk said regarding the devotees, unlike Wukong. He was responsible, he sees Bajie as someone who has potential, but with laziness, gluttony and lust, for him it was annoying, what he thinks of Wujing was respect for him being responsible and also sensible, the dragon horse Youlong... well he treats him like a normal horse, as for Wukong, it was difficult. since he doesn't get along with him, especially in terms of attention he gets from Iris, they fight almost all the time, but he respects the great sage, as for Iris... well he is loyal to her, always talking about herbs and insects, something he was never interested in before, but with her, it was like a comfort to him, he never denies her requests, or is never rude, and very attentive and kind, he also has a care, even though she was lost, he was there, he is much more attached to her than Wukong.

[dragonplated]

What lance dynamics with other champions are there? can indicate specifics if multiples?

okay so there's a bunch of different dynamics with other champions, and in some cases there's different dynamics with different versions of the same champion;

so with leon from galar: lance hates him. there is literally no reason for this. he just hates him. there's a one sided hate rivalry going on here. it's very funny.

cynthia he gets along with bc he likes her and they talk myths and folklore often.

with gloria from galar: that's his dottir!!!! she's legally adopted (with permission from her mother!) and he absolutely 100% adores her. he would set the world on fire for this child. he loves her SO much lmao

steven: with doodles steven (@/the-wandering-rock-collector), they're just kinda bantering. he thinks that steven is a bit of an idiot twink, but they don't have any real animosity going, they're sort of coworkers who know each other in passing lmao. but!!! with (@/devonheir) steven, they hate each other. it's a mutual hatred, centered largely on silver and how badly lance fucked silver up among other reasons, and they antagonize each other every time they meet. if they see an opportunity to be an asshole to the other, they will take it lmao it's a very heated hatred and i love watching them circle like angry dogs

wallace (@/miikuri ) he doesn't really have a relationship with and the man just kinda pretends lance doesn't exist so it's mutual

uhhh. let's see.

iris and heidi he's also basically got a hostile relationship with, tho with hiedi he does also offer advice in regards to the forest child stuff if asked, and there's a second iris (@/ofdragondrums) who does like him who he hasn't been mean to yet

ree's a complicated relationship in general but leans towards somewhat friendly due to glora lmao

in general though, most of lance's relationships with other champions tends to fall towards hostile or tolerated at best.