#of lands unknown and untold

[harmonysixx]

Some misc doodles for that AU i'm working on... sometimes

Including stuff i did for the LM server question game

[theskywithin]

Birth Chart Breakdown- Neptune in The Signs

Neptune asks one thing of you: to surrender. But not to fantasy, not to illusion, to truth. Can you see clearly through the fog? Can you hold a dream without being consumed by it? When you learn to navigate Neptune’s tide, you discover the balance between vision and reality, between longing and belonging. And in that balance, you find not just dreams, but destiny.

🔥 Neptune in Aries

You chase the horizon, convinced it holds your name. The fire in your chest is real, but the victory you seek vanishes the moment you reach for it. Neptune blurs your battles, making it hard to tell if you are fighting for something true or just fighting to feel alive. There is beauty in your urgency, but not every war is worth the wounds. Your lesson? Pause. In the silence, you will hear what truly calls you.

🌿 Neptune in Taurus

You dream of hands that never let go, of a world that stays still long enough to be called yours. You seek safety in touch, in possession, in the familiar, but Neptune erodes the edges of what you think you own. Security slips through your fingers like sand, urging you to learn that nothing is ever truly yours except your own presence. Your lesson? Let go. What is meant for you cannot be held, only trusted.

💨 Neptune in Gemini

Your mind is a kaleidoscope, flickering between truths that never settle. You gather words like fireflies, believing they will guide you home, but Neptune shifts the meaning before you can hold it still. There is wisdom in your wandering, but beware the illusion that understanding alone will save you. Your lesson? Silence. In the absence of words, real knowing begins.

🌊 Neptune in Cancer

You dream in memories that never quite belonged to you, carrying the weight of love lost and love imagined. Neptune turns home into a feeling rather than a place, and you spend your life searching for an embrace that exists only in the past. You drown in nostalgia, believing the past was softer than it was. Your lesson? Open your hands. What has left will not return, but something new is waiting to take its place.

☀️ Neptune in Leo

You long to be seen, but Neptune makes you question whether you are looking into a mirror or a stage light. You create to be remembered, to be felt, to leave something behind that proves you were here. But Neptune distorts recognition, it cannot fill what is hollow. Your lesson? Love yourself when the applause fades. The truest stage is the one inside your heart.

🌾 Neptune in Virgo

You dream of a world where every piece fits, where effort creates certainty and order soothes the unknown. But Neptune makes the lines blur, the solutions dissolve, the work feel endless. You chase perfection, only to find it slipping further away. Your lesson? Rest. There is more divinity in imperfection than in anything you could fix.

⚖️ Neptune in Libra

You see beauty in everyone, believing love can heal all wounds. But Neptune makes it easy to mistake longing for love, attraction for destiny. You fall for ghosts, for projections, for the idea of a person rather than their reality. Your lesson? See clearly. Love is not about losing yourself in another, it is about finding someone who lets you be whole.

🦂 Neptune in Scorpio

You crave depth, but Neptune lures you into waters deeper than you were meant to swim. You believe that transformation must be painful, that love must consume you, that mystery is the same as truth. You stare into the abyss, hoping to find yourself, but Neptune reflects only what you want to see. Your lesson? Surface. Darkness is not the only way to find meaning.

🏹 Neptune in Sagittarius

You believe the answers lie somewhere beyond the horizon, that truth is waiting in distant lands or untold philosophies. Neptune feeds your wanderlust, making you believe that movement is progress. But the search never ends, because the thing you seek was never outside you. Your lesson? Stand still. The wisdom you long for is already within you.

🛠 Neptune in Capricorn

You dream of legacy, of achievement, of a life that stands the test of time. But Neptune makes success feel hollow the moment you reach it. You build empires only to wonder why they feel empty. You seek purpose in ambition, only to realize ambition cannot give you purpose. Your lesson? Redefine success. Build something that fulfills your soul, not just your reputation.

🌐 Neptune in Aquarius

You believe in a world that does not yet exist, seeing utopias where others see only limits. But Neptune turns ideals into illusions, making you fall in love with dreams rather than people. You crave connection, yet keep a distance, afraid that intimacy will dissolve the perfection you imagine. Your lesson? Come closer. The world is not perfect, but real love exists within the flaws.

🌊 Neptune in Pisces

You are the dream itself, drifting between worlds, dissolving boundaries between self and universe. You feel everything, sometimes too much, sometimes until it drowns you. Neptune is at home here, and so are your illusions, love that has no shape, faith that has no anchor, art that has no end. You see magic where others see mist, but beware of vanishing into the fog. Your lesson? Stay. The divine is not found in escape, but in presence. Let yourself be here, now, and watch how even the ordinary becomes sacred.

[annecoulmanross]

So it's been a while. But I couldn't let James Fitzjames Finding Day pass without some celebration—thank you Doug Stenton, Stephen Fratpietro, and Robert W. Park for giving us this wonderful and terrible knowledge. I've made an emotional playlist of all of us currently experiencing whatever emotion this is:

Selected lyrics for each song included below the cut!

Strange Ships | PHILDEL

Strange ships won’t let me sail out Passed by the ice and stone now

2. I, Carrion (Icarian) | Hozier

If the wind turns, if I hit a squall Allow the ground to find its brutal way to me

3. Howling | Wild Rivers

Howling out here for the morning light I can’t sing no more

4. The Yawning Grave | Lord Huron

I tried to warn you when you were a child I told you not to get lost in the wild I sent omens and all kinds of signs I taught you melodies, poems, and rhymes

5. Sax Rohmer #1 | The Mountain Goats

Ships loose from their grins, capsize and then they’re gone Sailors with no captains watch a while and then move on

6. Long Wave | Dessa

Starve the guard dog And see what hunger does It’s easy when we’re well fed To talk of love

7. Achilles Come Down | Gang of Youths

Throw yourself into the unknown, With pace and a fury defiant Clothe yourself in beauty untold, And see life as a means to a triumph

8. Eat You Alive | The Oh Hellos

I’ve seen the true face of the things you call life The song of the siren that holds your desire Death, she is cunning and clever as hell And she’ll eat you alive

9. My Ego Dies At The End | Jensen McRae

Leave my body and my ego early Kill it kind with a surgeon’s mercy Claim I put it out of its misery

10. Who We Are | Hozier

Darling, we sacrificed We gave our time to something undefined This phantom life sharpens like an image But it sharpens like a knife

11. Devourer | Aidoneus

Beams of light, show me how to feel Light the gloam, find my Achilles heel I will welcome my mortality—let me go

12. Sound the Bells | Dessa

Go lift your sails up For one last swell Go lift yourselves up To sound the bells

13. Your Bones | Of Monsters and Men

Said goodbye to you my friend As the fire spread All that’s left are your bones That will soon sink like stones

14. Wildflower and Barley | Hozier, Allison Russell

This year, I swear it will be buried in actions This year, I swear it will be buried in words Some close to the surface, some close to the casket I feel as useful as dirt, put my body to work

15. These Bones | Azrai, Momo O’brien

It’s a savage sea we’re made to roam Every tide can turn to haunt us But the ocean reaches past these ghosts And I will always sail for more

16. By Way Of Sorrow | Cry Cry Cry

You have come by way of sorrow You have come by way of tears You’ll reach your destiny Meant to find you all these years

17. Gracestone | PHILDEL

When I open my final door I’m gonna sail much wilder seas than your ships were built for I’m turning into dust across that cove You know, I have known enough to not feel owed

18. Glowing | The Oh Hellos

You’ll rise, like land, pulled up at the sound of some strange commandment A moon alight, reflecting fully And I guess it would feel like rebirth, out of some kind of dying To see yourself so glowing

[city-of-ladies]

"Zhao E, the mother of Pang Yu (Pang Yu Mu Zhao E), fl. 179, also known as Eqin, was the daughter of Zhao An (or Jun An) of Fulu District (present-day Jiuchuan in Gansu Province). She is known by her zi, E, her given name being unknown. Her son, Pang Yu, was appointed Marquis of Guannei (guannei hou) during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Wei dynasty.

According to the biography of Pang Yu in the History of the Wei Dynasty (Wei shu), the Record of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo zhi), and Huangfu Mi’s Biographies of Eminent Women (Lienü zhuan), Zhao E’s father was killed by a man named Li Shou of the same district. Li Shou was so well protected, however, that none of Zhao E’s three younger brothers was able to avenge their father’s death before they themselves died in a plague. Overjoyed at the news of their deaths, Li Shou invited his clansmen to a celebration where he announced:

“All the strong ones of the Zhao clan are now dead and only a weak daughter remains. I need worry no longer.”

He therefore began to let his guard down. Zhao E was enraged when she heard from her son what Li Shou had said and tearfully she vowed:

“Li Shou, don’t you be happy. I will not let you live, for that would bring shame on the three sons of our family. How can you be so sure that Eqin cannot kill you with her own hands? You are not as lucky as you think.”

Harboring vengeance for her father’s death, she secretly bought a famous sword and sharpened it day and night, even as she honed her hatred for Li Shou. Hearing of this, Li Shou resumed his old habit of vigilance, wearing his sword at his belt when he rode out on his horse. He was a vicious man of whom the villagers were terrified. A neighbor of Zhao E, a Madame Xu, tried to dissuade her from her mission, saying:

“Li Shou is a man accustomed to violence. He is also on his guard. No matter how great your determination, you are no match for him and catastrophe will befall you when you find yourself unable to kill him. He will wipe out your entire household, causing untold pain and humiliation. For the sake of your family, I ask you to recon- sider your plan.”

To this Zhao E replied:

“It is wrong to share the same heaven and earth, sun and moon with the murderer of one’s parent; if Li Shou lives, I cannot. Now that all my male siblings are dead, I must seek revenge. If I did as you say, no one would kill Li Shou, and I would not be able to live with myself.”

Her family and neighbors scoffed at these words, but Zhao E continued:

“Well may you laugh at me, a mere woman, vowing to kill Li Shou, but you will see when I stain this blade with the blood of Li Shou’s neck.”

Zhao E became obsessed with Li Shou, abandoning all else to stalk him from a small cart in which she rode. On a fine day early in the second month of 179, she finally confronted him at the metropolitan post-house in Jiuquan. Descending from her cart, she grabbed the bridle of his horse and began to abuse him. When Li Shou tried to yank his horse away, Zhao E lashed out with her sword, wounding both him and the horse. Li Shou was thrown from his horse and landed in the gutter, where Zhao E fell on him, stabbing him repeatedly with her sword. She did not manage to kill him, however, and in her wild haste she broke her sword on a tree. She tried to grab Li Shou’s sword, but he continued to resist, all the while calling loudly for help. He attempted to get up but Zhao E held him down with her left hand, hitting him repeatedly across the throat with her right fist. When he finally stopped struggling she chopped off his head with his sword.

Having killed Li Shou, Zhao E went straight to the district office to give herself up and then started walking toward the jail. The magistrate, however, could not bring himself to sentence her and was ready to hang up his seal and resign from his position, allowing Zhao E to abscond. One version of the story has Zhao E and the magistrate running away together at this point. But Zhao E was determined to pay for her deed.

“Having killed my enemy, I should die. Clearly, this is my lot. As a magistrate, you are responsible for administering the laws and meting out punishment; I dare not treasure my life at the expense of the law.”

News of Zhao E’s integrity attracted a crowd of awed onlookers and even her guards were moved, to the extent that they intimated to her that they would look the other way were she to run away. An emotional Zhao E told them:

“It is not my wish to escape death at the cost of contravening the law. Now that I have wrought vengeance it is right that I die. I beg you to let me bear the full force of the law so that good government will not be jeopardized. I would rather give my life ten thousand times than destabilize the law.”

When the guards still would not listen, she said:

“I may be just a humble woman, but I do understand the law, and I know that the crime of murder is not pardonable. I do not want to run away, I want to receive the punishment due for my crime and be executed in the marketplace in order to uphold the emperor’s law.”

She showed no sign of fear but grew increasingly fervent, so the guards stopped arguing and simply bundled her into a carriage and took her home. Another version is that she did go to jail but was granted amnesty and was able to go home.

Several people, including Zhou Hong, the regional inspector of Liangzhou, and Liu Ban, the governor of Jiuquan, memorialized the emperor about Zhao E’s integrity, and her story was inscribed on a stone stele so that her family might be glorified. Zhang Huan, who held the position of chamberlain for ceremonies (taichang), presented her with twenty bolts of silk out of admiration for her actions. Zhao E’s act of revenge was recorded in official histories and spread far and wide by word of mouth, while men of letters of later ages immortalized her in biographies and poetry. Liang Kuan of late Eastern Han, for instance, wrote her biography, and Zuo Yannian of the Three Kingdoms period praised her integrity in his ballad Qinnü xiu xing. Qinnü xiu xing is also the title of a poem written by Fu Xuan of Western Jin telling of a woman who braved the powerful to avenge her father, and then gave herself up. In this latter poem the woman is called Pang’s wife and one line runs, “One good daughter is worth one hundred sons.”"

Shen Lidong, "Zhao E", in: Xiao Hong Lee Lily, Stefanowska A. D. (eds.), Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui 1600 B.C.E.–618 C.E.

[skyhairo]

Outer Void (Wynncraft)

Been a bit! Have an environment art. :)

“The outer void is a mysterious place located at the very fringes of the deep unknown. Situated far below the shattered sky islands of Gavel the void holds many secrets, bizarre creatures and most importantly treasure. It’s said that those brave, or foolhardy, enough to brave this fringe land can strike an untold fortune.”

“Won’t you join?”

[rd0265667]

Seulgi x Reader: Dream Girl

Permanent Taglist: @cwpiqwon @justme-idle

A/N: It's fluff I swear

To most people, dreams are like fleeting wisps of fantasy—moments of escape where the laws of reality bend and shift, offering a brief respite from the mundane. They speak of dreams as whimsical adventures, an occasional playground for their subconscious. They speak of dreams with joy, piecing together the intermittent adventures they would concoct in their brains. Their dreams bring them to lands unknown and bring them joys untold. There's a theory that dreams are a glimpse into the lives of your multiversal counterparts, your doppelgangers. Well, if that were true, you pitied the poor fools across the multiverse; your doppelgangers had to be going through hell.

See, while others had dreams, you only had terrors. Nightmares came to haunt you, night after night. It was a rare night to get more than 3 hours of sleep. While it did take some time, you did adapt to it. You didn't enjoy it, but well, beggars and choosers and all that. You set alarms around 2 hours in, hoping that you'd be pulled out of your sleep before any nightmares came. To make up for the lack of sleep, you resorted to snacking constantly and eating small amounts of food to make up for your lack of energy. Naturally, this brought up quite a few other problems. This did come with it's perks, though. As a corporate worker, one doesn't exactly have much personal time for R&R. So in the ungodly hours where everyone you knew slept, you stayed up, binge-watching any content you could find. Kpop, to be exact. You basically just binge-watch K-pop content at night—various shows, music shows, music videos, anything. Not exactly an awe-inspiring or particularly jaw-dropping talent, but well, it had its moments to shine. Particularly, a radio show, where your recognition of Ice Cream Cake within the first second of the song earned you a prize that many others had failed to obtain despite spending thousands on albums. A small intimate fan meet amongst Red Velvet and 100 lucky fans. Maybe your nightmares were actually real life, and life was a dream. Listen, if you could meet Red Velvet, you'd take whatever came with it. It seemed that the powers that be, decided to test that statement, as you excitedly hopped into bed, brimming with anticipation at meeting your idols tomorrow. You always turned your alarm clock on, you always did, right?

As you opened your eyes, you found yourself in a foreign room, framed works of arts lining every square inch of the walls around you. The room was dimly lit, shadows flickering against the walls like malevolent spirits, the only thing keeping you from complete darkness were the candles, desperately flickering as it tried its best to keep the room lit. You stood in the centre of the room, cold sweat pouring down your face, your breath coming in short, panicked gasps. The air was thick and oppressive, carrying a nauseating stench of decay that made your stomach churn. You knew in your gut that something was wrong. You’ve made it a point to always have your alarm set, and it pulls you out before anything happens right? You couldn’t be that careless right?

Well, you alway enjoyed proving yourself wrong.

Without warning, the walls began to close in, the room shrinking around you. You tried to move, but your feet were rooted to the ground, as if the floor had turned to quicksand, dragging you down. Panic surged through you as the winds grew stronger, extinguishing the candles, and the darkness crept closer, the shadows morphing into monstrous, writhing shapes that seemed to reach out with clawed hands.

A low, guttural whisper echoed, repeating your name over and over, each iteration louder and more insistent, filled with a sinister glee, followed by a loud cackle. You strained to see where it was coming from, but the source remained hidden.

Out of the corner of your eye, a figure emerged from the darkness. It was unfamiliar yet grotesquely horrifying, a twisted amalgamation of nightmares. Its eyes were hollow, pits of endless darkness that swallowed all light. Its mouth stretched into an unnatural grin, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. It reached out with skeletal hands, fingers elongating and curling like the legs of a giant spider.

You tried your best to stay calm. You had enough experiences with nightmares to know that however realistic it felt, it was all fake, and it would be over soon. The walls were almost touching you now, the space so confined you could barely breathe. The figure's icy fingers brushed your face, their touch burning like acid, sending waves of agony through your body. Their whispering voice was right in your ear, speaking in a language you couldn't understand, yet the words filled you with an overwhelming sense of dread and despair.

Breathe, just breathe. It would all be over soon. Just breathe

Just as the walls were about to crush you, everything stopped. The figure vanished, the walls receded, and you were left alone in the now cavernous, empty room. The silence was deafening, but it was short-lived. The ground beneath you began to crack and crumble, and you started to fall into an abyss of endless darkness, the wind howling in your ears as you plummeted into the void.

You reached out, grasping at nothing, feeling the cold, slimy tendrils of something unseen wrapping around your limbs, pulling you deeper. The whispers grew louder, now a cacophony of voices screaming your name, each one more frantic and desperate than the last.

You bolted up from your bed, shirt soaked in sweat, panting heavily as your chest heaved up and down, looking to your phone in regret. You should have just remembered to set that damn alarm. Great Start to the day. At least this one was a tame one.

With your fashion sense limited to dress to impress, and you still being thrown off by that nightmare, you decided to forgo any flashy attire, opting instead for a simple outfit, throwing on a baggy hoodie and some jeans, then heading out to the event. Once you reached the auditorium, you saw quite a large crowd already gathered, some assumedly being dispatched or some fans hoping to get lucky and see the idols in real life. Walking up to the entrance, you were stopped by two security guards, who, after verifying your ticket, quickly ushered you into the venue. Quickly grabbing a seat, you look up to the stage, and immediately you're struck in awe of the sight in front of you. Of course, you had seen them online before, and you had spent countless hours gushing to your friends over how pretty they were, but seeing them in person and so close was a whole different kind of ethereal. And amongst this collage of beauty and almost angelic perfection, one stood out to you. The other members looked good, that you couldn't deny, but Kang Seulgi just had this aura about her, and you found it hard to rip your eyes off of her. You could almost swear she locked eyes with you for a moment. For a moment, that took your mind off that horrible nightmare. Just for a momentAs the event kicked off, you were ushered to the front of the stage, feeling your heartbeat accelerate as you got closer to the stage, clutching the Red Flavour album tight against your chest. Walking up to the first seat, you were greeted with a warm smile by Wendy. You shared a quick conversation with her, talking about how much you loved her music. Catching on to your nervousness, Wendy let out a slight chuckle. "Take a deep breath, What's your name?" Wendy asked "Y/N" You mumbled out, embarrassed at having been caught going into fan mode. "Thank you for all your support, Y/N. I appreciate every one of our fans, and I look forward to releasing more songs for you guys to enjoy!" Wendy replied, motioning to your album, taking the cap off her pen. This continued with the other 3 girls, though the interactions varied, Yeri and Joy being more playful, while Irene, while still interacting, was more laid back, letting you do more of the talking. Finally, you reached the one who you'd been almost bubbling over in excitement to meet. As you reached Seulgi, before you could even say anything, Seulgi looked straight into your eyes. before quickly grabbing you by the hand. "You look tired." Seulgi said, worry evident in her tone. You did try to answer, you really did, but with Seulgi's hand on yours, her eyes locked on yours, your words couldn't leave your throat. "Are you okay Y/N?" Seulgi asked, looking worriedly at you. With a hard gulp, you force yourself to focus, slowly wiggling your hand away from under Seulgi's hand in an attempt to force your brain to rewire itself. Worried, Seulgi looked to her manager in a corner, beckoning her over to bring a bottle of water for you. "Thank you." Was all you could mumble, taking a seat as your eyes darted around wildly, from Seulgi's auburn locks, to her soulful eyes, there really was nowhere you could look without being entranced by her. "Your fatigue, is it a common thing?" Seulgi asked, akin to a therapist or medical professional more than an idol. "Yeah, but it's not a medical condition, it's just, I get nightmares. I don't really get more than 3 hours of sleep a night" You explain, nervously fidgeting, unable to maintain eye contact with her. "Oh, you poor thing, I'm sorry to hear that.  How do you even cope with this? Have you talked to anyone about all this?” Seulgi asked, leaning in closer to you.

“I usually listen to Kpop, but sometimes, I’ll just go to the beach near my house and just listen to the waves, maybe have some cookies, it helps. About telling others…I’ve mentioned it, but nobody really takes it seriously. I don’t want to get any special treatment for it either, so I tend not to talk about it unless anybody asks. You must think I’m some kind of weirdo.” You begin to mumble. Who needs nightmares when you have adolescent brats who could make fun of anything? “Nonsense, we all have our own problems, and it’s not like this is within your control. Stay strong, I’m sure there will be someone to help you soon.” Seulgi said, giving you a small smile as she reached out, gently squeezing you on your shoulder. “I’ve tried, Seulgi, it’s been a long time, at some point, you adapt instead of overcome.” You said, downtrodden, the most recent slip up induced nightmare still sending chills down your spine. “I have a good feeling about it. Trust me.” Seulgi said with a smile. It’s a curious thing, this has been said to you multiple times, many many times, parents, teachers, friends who were understanding, therapists, many, many people. And to be frank, after the first 3 or 4 times, you had kind of lost hope. They were just being nice, and you understood that. It’s not like they would say, “You’re stuck with this now, now scram kid, I want to watch Shark Tank.”, so you always took their words at face value, just a wish, and a hope for a better tomorrow. However, now, as you looked into the eyes of Kang Seulgi, international superstar, renowned kpop idol, there was a resolute hope, a belief even that what she said was true. Wow, you thought to yourself. Kang Seulgi was out of this world. The manager whispered to Seulgi, gesturing to the line that had begun to form behind me. “One moment.” Seulgi said to her manager, before Seulgi hastily grabbed your album, signing it. ‘Wishing you all the luck in overcoming your afflictions. I’ll be with you all the way, whether through our music, or in my thoughts. Your Dream girl(and better be your favourite), Kang Seulgi <3)”

“Woah” Is all you could mutter as you crashed onto your bed, reading what Seulgi had written on your album for what had to have been the hundredth time of the day. Or the thousandth, you’d lost track to be very frank. Could there really be a solution to your nightmares? Perhaps, but that was a problem for another day. Now, you sleep. The little sleep you can get anyways. Turning to your side, you set an alarm for 2 hours. Perhaps Seulgi was right, but unfortunately, you weren’t gonna risk another night terror at the assurance from a Kpop idol. Perhaps soon, not now.

As you tucked yourself into your bed, and drifted into your deep sleep, you sat up, hand moving to your phone, shutting the alarm off, before falling back into the bed, in a slumber all the while.

For the second time in as many nights, you sat up, this time finding yourself in a transparent room in the middle of the ocean, waves crashing around you, the symphony of silence chiming in your ears, the only thing audible being the crest and trough of the waves. This was calm. This was great. This was wrong.

You looked around, confusion stirring. Looking at the room, you saw a table with two seats, one seat occupied by a woman, who slowly sipped a cup of water as she admired the sea. Before you could ask anything, the woman spoke. “Do you like this? I scanned your subconscious, and this was an environment you found relaxing.” The woman’s voice was familiar. Too familiar. You recognised that voice. “Seulgi?” You say in disbelief. The woman ignores you, continuing to sip her water, as she beckoned you to a seat opposite of her, across the table

What the hell was going on? Was this a nightmare? This was definitely different from the nightmares you were accustomed to.

“This isn’t a nightmare, that much I can promise you. Trust me 0n this. Take a seat and I’ll explain.” Looking around, you tried to take in as much as you could as you moved to the vacant seat. You somehow overslept again, but instead of a nightmare, you were stuck in something more akin to a dream, with a lady you’d assume was similar to an oneiroi. The lady, who looked exactly like Kang Seulgi. None of this made sense. “I’m not an oneiroi, though I’m impressed you know about oneiroi. And before we go on, yes, I can hear what you’re thinking. Any other questions?” The lady said with a smile, snapping her fingers, a cup full of hot chocolate, your go-to drink by the beach, suddenly appearing in your hand. “What are you? How is this happening?” “Well, before anything, I apologise for taking so long. A peek into your subconscious shows how much suffering you’ve been through. And for your questions, I’m akin to a technician. I’m here to fix your nightmares, but it’s a long job, so while you sleep, instead of nightmares, I’ll be here. I can make this room anything, a batting cage, a movie theatre, whatever you need to relax. And when you wake up, you’ll feel well rested, as if you slept through the entire night.” Looking at her, your mind raced with the possibilities of all that could happen. Was this real? If this was real, it’ll finally be over, the sleepless nights, the 2 hour sleeps, the nightmares. You didn’t know if you could place your full faith in this. Then, your mind instantly bolts to the next question. “Why do you look like Seulgi?” You asked, and just as the woman was about to answer, you raised your hand, the answer seemingly having come to you. Seulgi had left a deep impression on you after that fanmeet, and with all that talk about helping your nightmares go away, all of that must have made your mind associate Seulgi with fixing your nightmares. That made sense. Clearly sensing your thoughts, the woman let out a light giggle. “You’re quick.” She quipped, causing you to shrug. “Well, if I’m to spend my time here with you, what do I call you?” You asked “Whatever you want.” “Would you mind if I called you Seulgi? That’s who you took your likeness from, and I’d probably end up calling you that anyways.” You asked, the woman nodding in agreement. “Alright, Seulgi, how long does this dream last? And can you make this place, like a nice old timey diner.” You asked, Seulgi nodding, snapping her fingers, and just like that, the room around them was morphed into a diner, as you found yourself in a small cubicle in the diner, sitting opposite to Seulgi. In front of you was your favourite food, a good bowl of Jjangmyeon, while Seulgi had a plate of Kimchi Tuna Fried Rice. “See that clock there?” Seulgi gestured to the wall clock, showing 10 minutes left. “Each of these dreams will last 2 hours. You lost some time on this one since I spent some time getting you here. When the time runs out, you’ll wake up at 0700 in this case. You need to spend a minimum of 2 hours here for any work to get done, so do account for it. You’ll have to at least get 4 hours of sleep for the next few months, how many exactly, I can’t be sure.” You nodded in understanding, making a mental note to make sure you changed your sleeping habits. “Seulgi, can I ask a favour of you?” You ask, slowly eating the bowl of Jjangmyeon.

“Shoot.” Seulgi replied. She knew what you were going to ask, but, well, this facilitates human interaction more. “Seeing as I’m going to spend quite a bit of time here, you’re going to be my only companion. For us to hang out, well somewhat normally, considering you’re basically an angel, could you not read my mind? At least that way, I can feel like I’m talking to a friend, and not an omniscient being.” You ask, Seulgi returning a small smile. “Of course. If that’ll help you relax more, by all means.” Seulgi said, before snapping her fingers As the time passed, you began to ask Seulgi questions, to which she answered with an amused smile all the while. “What are you? Are you a figment of my imagination? Or are you some sort of extraterrestrial, or supernatural?” You asked, before hearing a buzz from the clock. Hearing that, Seulgi let out a light giggle. “Oh well, questions for tomorrow night.”

You sat up in shock, finding yourself back in your bed. Wow, this was…wow. It was a foreign feeling but you felt rested, invigorated. You could get used to this.

“You’re looking chipper. What song is that anyways?” Lucy commented, letting out a light snicker as she watched you by the copier, humming a tune while you scanned some documents. “There’s no way you don’t know Cosmic. By Red Velvet? No? That’s kind of disappointing Lucy.” You commented as she shrugged, then rolled her eyes, taking a sip of coffee before heading back to her desk. So this was what working on a full night of sleep feels like. It’s great. Well, as great as working a corporate job can be.

As the night dawned, you laid in your bed once more, about to shut your eyes, just before you felt a wave of insecurity rush over you. What if last night was part of a bigger nightmare, give you a sense of false hope before showing you that rock bottom indeed had a basement? “This isn’t a nightmare, that much I can promise you. Trust me 0n this.” Seulgi, or technically Fake Seulgi’s words echoed in your mind. Could you trust her? Your finger lingered over the alarm app. A few seconds later, you sighed. In for a penny. Setting your phone to the side, you turned your lamp off, going off into sleep.

“Welcome back.” was all you heard, finding yourself in what looked to be a cosy home theatre. Looking around, you saw a widescreen TV, and a small two seater couch. “What’s this?” You ask, looking confusedly at Seulgi, who simply smiled. “Deadpool and Wolverine. I know you’ve been meaning to watch it but you haven’t been able to get tickets for it, so here.” Seulgi says with a smile, patting the seat beside her, two buckets of popcorn in her hands. “Oh, nice.” You say in jubilation. You rush towards the seat, Seulgi handing you the bucket of popcorn, before snapping her fingers, the opening sequence then beginning to play. Everything seemed normal, but all of sudden, you feel a hand slide on your arm, looping around yours, causing you to tense up. What was happening? You turn to your side, seeing Seulgi stare at the screen nonchalantly, as if her arm wasn’t looped around yours. “Everything okay?” Seulgi asked sweetly, in a way that made you almost certain she knew what she was doing. “Fine.” Was all you could say, causing Seulgi to giggle, going back to watching the movie. Would you really make Seulgi so flirty with you in your mind? Would you? Yeh, sounds about right. This was wrong though, and you knew it. Your heart rate accelerated, and you felt a crimson blush across your face. All this, for a fake imagined version of a Kpop idol you could only dream of even watching a movie together. It was wrong, and it had to stop.

Easier said than done, however. Especially when Seulgi looks at you the way she does, trapping you in her dark hazel eyes, showing you universes you had no clue even existed. It also didn’t help how clingy Seulgi was during the movie. Oh well, it’s probably just a one time thing, the next one would probably be the two of you just chatting like a couple of friends. Well, right and wrong.

You guys had many hangouts, but some stuck out more than the rest

In the dimly lit café, the ambiance is warm and inviting. Seulgi is seated at a corner table, her face illuminated by the flickering candlelight. You join her, and she greets you with a smile that seems to light up the entire room.

Seulgi leans in slightly, her voice playful. "I was hoping you'd come by. This place has the best coffee. Have you tried it?"

You smile, feeling a flutter of excitement, before rolling your eyes playfully. “Wow, tooting your own horn huh? Never pegged you for a self indulgent type.” “What can I say? I’m the best.” Seulgi says with a smile, causing you to playfully shove her, laughing at her faux confidence

As the conversation flows, you find yourself drawn to her laughter and the way she engages with you. Her presence makes everything feel more vibrant. She teases you about your taste in books, and you playfully banter back, though you use real life information on Seulgi instead of what you know of this Seulgi.

Another night, the scene shifts to a moonlit park. The path is lined with glowing lanterns, casting a golden light over the surroundings. Seulgi walks beside you, her dress fluttering with the gentle breeze.

Seulgi nudges you playfully as you stroll along the path. “I’ve never understood the hype around night strolls.”

"Have you ever noticed how peaceful everything feels at night? It’s like the world slows down just for us." “Umm, I’m not real? What are you saying?” Seulgi giggles as she playfully flicks you on the forehead, causing you to smile, but also pulling you out of the moment. Your feelings for this Seulgi was undeniable, but how could you feel that way for someone who was nothing more than a spectre of your own imagination? “Are you okay?” Seulgi gently asked, this time more gentle and careful, seeing the change in your demeanour. “Yeh.” You said with a forced smile, continuing to walk through the makeshift park

You talk about everything and nothing as you walk. She shares whimsical stories, and you respond with your own tales, each of you enjoying the other’s company.

Every now and then, she’d glance at you with a soft smile. The way she leaned in slightly when she spoke, or the way she let her fingers graze yours as you walked, created a sense of closeness that was both comforting and disorienting. You found yourself caught between the peace of the moment and the unsettling, terrifying reality of being in love with someone who didn't exist.

In another dream, you find yourselves at a bustling carnival. The air is filled with the sounds of laughter and carnival games. Seulgi is by your side, her eyes bright with excitement.

She tugs you towards a game booth, her voice filled with enthusiasm. "Let’s see if you can win me that plush toy! I’m counting on your skills."

You accept the challenge with a grin, the playful competition adding to the joy of the evening. As you win the plush toy and hand it to her, she laughs, her eyes sparkling. "I knew you had it in you!"

“Did you rig the game?” you asked with a chuckle, raising an eyebrow at Seulgi.

She grinned mischievously, wrapping her arms around the plush toy. “Who knows? Maybe I just wanted to see you win. Sometimes, a little magic can make things more fun.”

“Thanks for this though.” Seulgi whispered, gesturing to the plush, getting on her tiptoes, placing a soft kiss on your cheek.

As you stood stunned, she laughed, laughing as she pulled you to the Ferris wheel

You both ride the Ferris wheel together, sharing a quiet moment as you look out over the carnival below, the lights glimmering from the ground as you sat conflicted, attempting to combat your burgeoning feelings

Another night, you’re in a serene garden at twilight. The air is filled with the scent of blooming flowers, and the garden is bathed in a soft, golden light. Seulgi is with you, her presence calming and serene.

You sit on a bench, surrounded by the beauty of the garden. Seulgi turns to you, her voice gentle. "Isn’t it amazing how some places just feel right? Like they were meant to be experienced with someone special."

You nod, feeling the warmth of her presence. "It does feel like that. I’m glad we’re here together."

Seulgi rests her head on your shoulder, allowing your mind to wander far and wild

“This is really nice,” you said softly, almost to yourself. “It feels like the world has slowed down just for us.”

Seulgi tilted her head slightly, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m glad you think so. Sometimes, it’s these quiet moments that make everything feel right.”

“Thanks for making this for me.” You say

“Anything for you.”

In the next dream, you walk along a starlit beach, the waves gently lapping at the shore. Seulgi walks beside you, her dress flowing with the breeze.

Seulgi picks up a seashell and holds it up to you, her voice soft and playful. "I’ve always liked finding seashells. They make me think of stories and adventures."

“You’ve always?” You ask sceptically

“It’s called small talk genius. Try thinking of topics when you don’t exist.” Seulgi rolled her eyes, sticking her hand out.

You take the seashell from her, admiring its beauty. "You have a way of making even the smallest things feel special."

Seulgi’s eyes sparkled with a mix of mischief and affection. “That’s my job, after all. To make things special, even in dreams.”

As you walk along the beach, you talk about your hopes and dreams, all the while Seulgi looked at you, an undeniable look of adoration, but under the surface, you could sense a small look of apprehension. Oh well, problem for another night.

“What’s this?” You look at the envelope, a SM ent sign on it. Looking at it, you found that you were invited back for another fan sign, in two days, but it was only for one of the five members, and you got Seulgi. Wow, that was trippy. Meet the real Seulgi while you were in love with the fake one. This was going to be, mildly confusing The next night, things were different. Instead of coming into a special hang out/date that Seulgi would create, you found yourself back above the ocean, the same transparent box hovering over the ocean, a big grandfather clock in the corner of the room, ticking backwards from 2 hours. Paying it no mind, you move to find Seulgi, who was sitting at the same table as the first night. “Hey Seulgi, what’s with the sudden nostalgia trip?” You ask, letting out a small chuckle, going to sit opposite a rather uncomfortable looking Seulgi, who looked deep in thought. “Seul?” You prod lightly, seemingly pulling her out of her deep thought. “Hmm? Oh yeah, you know, I ran out of ideas.” She quickly sipped her cup of water, trying to force a smile. “Is everything okay?” You ask, slightly suspicious. Between the apprehension of the previous night, and her clear unhappiness here, something was off. “No, nothing, sorry, just, had a lot on my mind, with my upcoming schedules and p-” Seulgi was clearly stressed, and your eyebrow creased in confusion. “You have a schedule? What for? You’re a, well, I still don’t know what you are, but I didn’t think you’d have a schedule.” You ask. “Forget I said anything, what do you want to do? I’m out of ideas unfortunately.” Seulgi shrugs. “Hmm, maybe Karaoke?” You suggest, it was a fun way to pass time, and if this Seulgi was anything like the real Seulgi, you knew you were in for a vocal masterclass. “As you wish.” Seulgi theatrically bowed, snapping her fingers, a karaoke machine and a TV appearing before them. For the next hour and a half, you and Seulgi had a blast, going through the greatest hits, your uninspiring vocals being blanketed by a snap of a finger, granting you passable vocals for the next 2 hours. One song in particular, ironically a Red Velvet Song, Psycho, Seulgi shined and sang that song as if it was composed for her. “Wow, that was…amazing.” “Of course, I’m your dream girl.” She said, winking, causing you to smile, but also tilt your head in confusion. That sounded familiar. “Hey! It’s your turn.” Seulgi called out, handing you the mic. As you scrolled through the music list, your finger hovers over a certain Elvis song. You hesitated playing this song. You had come to terms with your crush on someone who didn’t actually exist. The Portuguese called it Saudade, the haunting desire for an imaginary love. It wasn’t right, but it was inevitable. Night after night of what were effectively dates, it was nigh impossible to not catch feelings for her, not only because she looks like Seulgi, but because of her playful and cheerful personality, a beacon and light for you. She was your salvation.

“Wise men say, only fools rush in, but I can’t help falling in love with you.” You sing, locking eyes with Seulgi, who seemed to understand what was going on As you continued to sing, Seulgi’s gaze never left yours, softening as you got lost in her eyes as she swam in the galaxies of yours. The song reaches it’s end, and, nothing. Silence. The two of you sit in silence, but it wasn’t awkward. You knew, the both of you had a choice to make, and it was evident on Seulgi’s face, that she was conflicted. The two of you begin to talk at the same time, causing yet another pause in the conversation. “You go.” You say, allowing Seulgi to go first. She nervously gulps, before starting to talk. “Y/N, I want you to know that I’ve really enjoyed the past two months.” Had it really been two months already? Wow, time flies huh. “Y/N. I know we have something, there’s something between us that I can’t explain, but…” Seulgi paused, and you felt your heart jump from your chest. Of course, what did you expect? This was obviously never going to work out, who could love y- “No, Y/N, it’s not that.” Seulgi suddenly said, causing you to weakly force a smile. “What did I say about peeking about my mind Seulgi?” You say, causing Seulgi to grimace. “It’s involuntary…I can’t turn it off today.” Seulgi says, causing to look at her in confusion. What’s so special about today? “It’s the last day, Y/N. My work here is done, no more nightmares, everything is fixed up, but…that means this too is done. All of it. The 2 hour meetings nightly, the carnivals, the parks. All of it. I’m really sorry.” Seulgi says, causing you to reel back in shock. You didn’t know these dreams would end. Maybe you did, but you just never acknowledged it. Looking hurriedly at the clock, you see the hour hand disappeared, the minute hand too, you only had 20 seconds left. You didn’t have time. Looking hurriedly at Seulgi, you found yourself unable to say a word, instead, you placed your lips on hers, pulling her into an embrace, stealing the last moments of, everything.

“No!” You sit up in your bed, cold sweat, as if you had a nightmare the same way you did before A sigh, you walk to the kitchen island, having to brew your own hot chocolate. As you sit at the island, your mind is in turmoil. That kiss solidified only one thing, and that was that you had fallen in love. And the person you loved was gone. As you slowly sipped your beverage, you notice the ticket for the fanmeet on the island. A last look at your lost love. It was all you had left.

Everything seemed the exact same, the same ball room, the same guards, it all felt cookie cutter, but good. That was good. You needed some familiarity to get your head on straight. The time passed in a flash, and before you knew it, you saw her. Kang Seulgi, the real one, walking into the room, her eyes looking at you, lighting up in recognition. Probably from the previous fan meet, you muse. You were a unique personality. Time went on, and the people ahead of you trickled away, all until you found yourself in front of her. “Y/N. Right?” Seulgi asked, looking to her manager, snapping her fingers to get the manager’s attention, then pointing to you. “Yeh, from the previous fanmeet. The one with the nightmares.” You say, seeing the manager come with a cup, steam forming above. “How’ve you been?” Seulgi asked “Better, the nightmares are gone, and that’s thanks to you.” You say with a small smile, taking the cup from the manager. Hot Chocolate. “Oh, that’s great, but why thank me? All I did was wish you the best.” As the time you had spent with her began to flood your mind, you felt yourself begin to tear up, everything you had been through with her, the love you had for her, all overwhelming you. “Are you okay?” Seulgi asked, quickly leaning toward you, her hand almost cupping your face, before quickly moving down to your shoulder. “Yeh, I’m fine, just, thank you for everything. You don’t understand how much you helped me through my problems, I love…everything you’ve done for me, and I just wanted you to know that. I’m sorry if I seem a little weird, I have to go now.” You quickly turn around, wanting to quickly walk away. Walk away before you break down in that chair, before you tell her that you loved her. “Y/N?” Seulgi called out, causing you to halt. Shutting your eyes tightly, you try to put on a brave face, turning around to face Seulgi, who had a small smile, and a familiar glint. “I didn’t think you were weird, and for what it’s worth, I really enjoyed our kiss.”

[castleofclouds]

Truth to be told, I missed you (spin-off).

Castleofclouds presented original series, spin-off from To All The Boys I've Dated Before (NCT Dream Alternative Universe Fiction).

Genre ; angst, romance, humor, fluff, slow-burn, hint of smut, high school, college, frenemies.

Disclaimer ; everything are fictional, mention of kms jokes, suggestive 18+ content (?), typos or grammar, non-idol.

Tag ;

Story are by © castleofclouds, do not copy or repost without watermark!

A spin-off from the TBDE (To All The Boys I've Dated Before) series, a truth untold, a point of view that you never seen from the main story, all are crafted and wrapped into a short stories like a fairytale full of sadness and confusion.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦. 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦. 　⁺ 　

MARK LEE.

Fragments Of Firsts.

“There's always a first of everything, first day of the school, first time watching movies, first look of the day, in each timeline there's a begining that starting, just like how it is my first life too, and I ought to make mistakes that I'm going to regret in the future, and that is Us.”

- Mark Lee.

1. Pieces of Once Upon a Time

2. Moments That Made Us

3. The Start of Something Beautiful

4. In the Shadow of Memory

5. Through Love’s First Glance

RENJUN HUANG.

Parallel Hearts

“The way human hearts works is intriguing, how I always pick yellow in any colors because I like it, how my hearts often give me option to pick, and one of the many choices were to fall in love, and I choose to do it with you. ”

- Renjun Huang

1. Tangled in Time

2. In the Orbit of You

3. Two Paths, One Feeling

4. Bound Yet Uncrossed

5. Together, Side by Side

JENO LEE

Seasons Of Us.

“There's so many seasons throughout the years, there's winter to make snowman, there's spring to watch the flowers bloom, there's autumn with its s'mores, and there's summer, the time where I landed my eyes on you and never leaves.”

- Jeno Lee

1. Fading in Autumn

2. A Journey in Bloom and Wilt

3. Love’s Passing Phases

4. Spring’s First Glance, Fall’s Final Goodbye

5. Bloomed, Burned, and Begun Again

HAECHAN LEE

Whisper Of What Was.

“Some people wish they could go back in time just to rewind all the good memories, some people wish they can rewind just to fixes flaw they made, unfortunately one of the many are thinking ending the relationship is the solution.”

- Haechan Lee

1. Traces in the Silence

2. Soft Ghosts of Us

3. When Love Was Young

4. Embers in the Dark

5. Beneath Falling Stars

JAEMIN NA

The Ones Before Us.

“Sometimes things doesn't ended the way we wanted, some comes and go, they left an impression that quite hard to forget, something had to ended for the new ones come.”

- Jaemin Na

1. Stories Left Unfinished

2. Lost and Found

3. Affection First Drafts

4. The Roads Not Taken

5. Lessons in Heartbreak

CHENLE ZHONG

A Heartbeat Away

“You never realized what's in front of you until you take your time to see, clearly. Who is the one occupying your heart, the beating arent just there for no reason, isn't it?”

- Chenle Zhong

1. Close Enough to Feel

2. Almost Familiar, Yet Unknown

3. Touching Without Touching

4. Near Enough to Dream

5. Between Now and Forever

JISUNG PARK

The Things I Hate To Love

“Both hate and love always seemingly like two complete opposite, but if you take a closer look both of them had same meaning, a strong expression for something, there's always a thin line that differentiates them from each other.”

- Jisung Park

1. Melancholy Paradox

2. Caught in Between

3. Complicated Embrace

4. The Ties that Bind and Break

5. Embracing the Frustration

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦. 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦. 　⁺ 　

TBDE series, Masterlist.

A/N

Are you all ready? For this November? Goshh. I couldn't be more ready, I was trying to continue the TBDE but I just need to give you all this present, Ik it's not Christmas yet, but let's just think of it as early present from me? Haha, for this time I wish it at least get 40 (ik I asked a lot) notes first before I post the first chapter and dw I don't forget about the main story, I'll make sure to continue the TBDE too at least for a while, and comment which route do you want to see first?? Btw just to make sure in this spin-off it's going to follow dreamies POV okay? Yn thought might not be voiced enough but I'll try to put some in.

[pushovermediacritic]

Nami's theme was just released for the One Piece live-action show, it has lyrics, and I'm going to fucking cry.

Lyrics:

I'll draw a map of the world Of lands unknown and untold I'll guide my ship towards the morn Through the raging waters The stars are pointing my way From a quarter of the globe away And yet I feel so astray How did I get so lost?

I've always been taught to be brave and strong To see the hope when all feels wrong I've always been taught not to be afraid And look at the price, the price I paid I'm barely afloat My sails are set and I'm coming home I'm barely afloat My sails are set and I'm coming home

I'll sail my ship on my own Straight into the eye of the storm And when I conquer it all Will you still be my friend?

I've always been taught to be brave and strong To see the hope when all feels wrong I've always been taught not to be afraid And look at the price, the price I paid I'm barely afloat My sails are set and I'm coming home I'm barely afloat My sails are set and I'm coming home

Caught up in the whirlwind, the perfect storm Reduce my sails and risk it all Positions unknown and no sight on land But I command, full speed ahead

I've always been taught to be brave and strong To see the hope when all feels wrong I've always been taught not to be afraid And look at the price, the price I paid I'm barely afloat My sails are set and I'm coming home I'm barely afloat My sails are set, I'm coming home

[personastrologyhub]

Career and Purpose Series - 9th Degree Sagittarius

When I think of the 9th degree, I think of the spark that drove Chris McCandless in Into the Wild. It’s the thrill of leaving, a map folded in the back pocket and a bag packed with nothing more than a few tattered books, a notebook thick with musings, and a passport heavy with the weight of a hundred foreign stamps.

It hums with the spirit of wanderlust and the quest for truth,—a promise of places untold, cultures to be immersed in, and revelations still to be uncovered. It's the energy of turning nothing into something.

This degree is the soul of the seeker. It’s the call of a mountain’s summit, whispering of heights yet to be reached and sights yet to be seen. It doesn’t settle, doesn’t bind itself to tradition or commitment but favors the freedom to move, to shift, and to grow. Like a breeze that changes direction, Sagittarius’ mutable nature ensures that this energy is always in motion, always curious, and never quite satisfied. It has an adventurous mindset, It’s the gaze that lingers just a second longer on a road sign, wondering, Where could this lead?

In its purest form, this energy favors teachers, guides, and spiritual wanderers—even life coaches. Those unafraid to cast their nets far and wide in the search for meaning, eager to share what they gather along the way.

Every barrier faced is met with the silent mantra, Teach me the way, with the understanding that each obstacle is simply a lesson in disguise. They are the ones who willingly step into new worlds, thriving in lands where language is different, the customs unfamiliar, and the faces tell stories of places yet unknown. For them, there’s beauty in the discomfort of newness, in the unspoken knowledge that growth requires stepping outside what’s known.

Careers

Preacher

Life Coach

Teachers

Spiritual Leaders

Entrepreneur in the Wellness Industry

Researcher or Anthropologist

Archeologist or Historian

Philosophical Writer or Spiritual Guide

Publisher / Publishing House

Marketing

Media Correspondent or Journalist

Law Enforcement Officer

Travel-Based Careers (e.g., Flight Attendant, Pilot)

Judge

University Professor

International Relations Specialist or Diplomat

Travel Blogger or Tour Guide

Multiple Professions.

Sag carries with it, BIG marketing energy.

People with Sag or 9H placements tend to be great people to utilize for marketing campaigns.

Career & Purpose of the 9th Degree:

Worldly Respect and Recognition There’s an innate magnetism in those influenced by the 9th degree—a quiet authority that draws admiration and respect. They become seekers, masters in the knowledge they pursue, often casting their influence far beyond their immediate circle. With time, their lives read like stories of expansive knowledge, ever-growing influence, and answers to questions that many dare not even ask. These individuals are often called to serve a greater purpose, to inspire, to uplift, and to lead by example.

Celebrity Energy with Humble Influence

If you’re gonna be internationally famous you HAVE to have a Sag, 9H, or strong Jupiter influence in the chart. These things represent energy that expands beyond the homeland, represents things that are “global”

The 9th degree radiates a quiet fame, the kind of recognition rooted not in performance, but in authenticity. There’s a natural relatability in their pursuits that inspires and uplifts those around them. They invite connection, share openly, and exude the type of wisdom that resonates deeply. Like Oprah’s Saturn at the 9th degree, they carry a grounding humility that amplifies their reach without losing the warmth that drew others to them in the first place.

Global or Cross-Cultural Impact At the heart of the 9th degree is the desire to bridge divides, to seek out and celebrate the wisdom of diverse perspectives, and to find commonality across borders. This degree is a natural fit for roles that traverse nations, languages, and traditions, pushing them to share, connect, and give back on a global scale. They often find themselves drawn to international work, humanitarian efforts, and social justice, where they can bring people together and spark change.

Leveraging the 9th Degree’s Influence:

Engage with diverse communities: Explore beyond your comfort zone and seek out cross-cultural exchanges. Your purpose often blossoms when challenged by new perspectives.

Stay true to your vision: Growth is gradual, and your impact grows with consistent dedication. Don’t let obstacles or doubt divert you from the path.

Embrace the journey of discovery: Challenges are a part of the adventure. Each one offers a new horizon, a fresh possibility, and the thrill of growth.

With planets at the 9th degree, your path isn’t a straight line but an unfolding adventure. Embrace each turn, for every step widens your world, connecting you to the wisdom of the ages, the thrill of new horizons, and the call to live expansively and freely. This is the 9th degree—fueled by wonder, lit by discovery, and bound to inspire.

[harmonysixx]

Wow rude

[same-skies]

Finding my feet

In a land where shadows softly creep, 

Where unknown paths and secrets sleep, 

I found myself, a stranger's face, 

In this new, uncharted place.

The streets were whispers, tales untold, 

With every step, my heart grew bold. 

Though fear did knock, I stood my ground, 

In this strange place, my feet were found.

The skies were foreign, stars anew, 

Yet in their light, my courage grew. 

With every dawn, a chance to see, 

The beauty in this mystery.

Through winding roads and hidden lanes, 

I danced in sun and welcomed rains. 

For in this place, so wild and free, 

I found the strength to just be me.

The city breathed, a living art, 

Its pulse became my beating heart. 

Mountains rose like ancient kings, 

Whispering tales of timeless things.

Rivers flowed like veins of gold, 

Through valleys deep and stories old. 

The wind, a voice both soft and strong, 

Sang to me a foreign song.

In markets bright with colours rare, 

I found new dreams within the air. 

Each face, a book with pages turned, 

In every gaze, a lesson learned.

The night, a velvet cloak of stars, 

Guided me through near and far. 

In this place, both strange and grand, 

I found my feet, I made my stand.

Surviving storms with steadfast grace, 

I carved my path, I found my place. 

In every challenge, strength did grow, 

In every trial, a chance to show.

Living fully, heart and soul, 

Embracing life, becoming whole. 

With every breath, a song to sing, 

In every moment, blossoming.

Thriving in this newfound land, 

With open heart and outstretched hand. 

In this place, both wild and free, 

I found my home, I found me.

[indiepressrevolution]

Now at IPR: With Every Fibre

With Every Fibre is a rules-light fantasy adventure game. Between the covers of this little A6 book youll find the rules of play, spells to cast, weapon traits you can unlock for special powers, adversaries to face down, tables to roll on and more.

Explore, adventure, and encounter dangers untold within the bustling and dangerous city of Fasthold itself, facing down thieves and cutthroats, or surviving the machinations of power hungry nobles.

In the caves, mines and places deeper below Fasthold and its surrounds, fighting off the Nox or rescuing their prisoners. Exploring the Underneath, finding treasures or uncovering the true nature of the dangers that stir there after an age asleep.

Or in the wild and strange lands beyond the city walls, where tilled field and farm house nestle close to the shadow that Fasthold casts, but further afield is an unknown world full of peril

With Every Fibre comes with a 48 page rules book, character sheet, adversary sheet, and the PDF: Paths Less Travelled, which contains 8 adventure seeds.

https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/With-Every-Fibre-Print-PDF.html

[mpsansy]

Mina feels like a good new name for Dewdrop. So going forward, I'll likely call her as such. Mina.

Anyways- the story on her. Without limiting myself, I'd say that her story centers around her being abducted at the age of two by I suppose barbarians.

(used to be pirates- but I want the pain of her not being able to connect with the ocean. Or most body of water for that matter. Forced to stay on dry land.)

Never knowing her family's fate nor have a single clue on what she is. It's all so unknown to Mina. When she inquired about what she was, Mina would get a hard hit to the face. Orders soon being barked to keep the many "mutts" in her care to stay in line.

That was their cruel way of calling many of their own children. As well as the abducted children. So many of them she had to raise. With little assistance, Mina had to figure out everything at the young age of 6. Too young to be called "mama", and yet here we are.

Cut off from many things, this lady had little means of gaining comfort as well as having a decent meal. Truthfully, she had many moments of wanting to stop her suffering permanently, yet resisted.

She wanted all this madness to end for every child. And it soon would. By her methodically planning a full assault on all their captors/abusers. With the assistance of the many children that craved the taste of libration just as her.

Needless to say, that desire of hers did come to pass. Albeit her getting separated from her band of young warriors to chase after the woman that took away everything from Mina.

So many more of her life is untold, and not many she'd be willing to share with the likes of Kremy or Gideon once she crosses paths with them.

Though she definitely has a feeling Gideon can see her. Not by much, but enough to cut the shit-talking once in a while to level with her.

Chances are, she probably slipped up once when having a drink with him. Because his mood with her shifted going forward.

(And this is all I got for my water girl)

[shamanfox]

Seven Sisters wash their treasures clean,

Agates and arrowheads, set free

From the grip of melting snow.

In the badlands, where dinosaurs

Meet the ghost of the old west,

They leave behind vague traces,

Haunting whispers of stories untold,

Tucked within each hidden crevice.

At Clark Lake, the trout leap high,

Their gleaming rainbow bodies

Touching night’s endless sky—

Constellations unknown,

Flickering in the distant dark,

As ancient as the land beneath.

[sylvan-librarian]

The Last of the Animists: Exploring the Concept of Animism and How it Defines Nissa Revane

Prologue

Since the characterization of Nissa in the Kaladesh block is such a massive undertaking due to the density and quality of material therein, I decided at first to take a little break from my regularly scheduled programming (i.e. - having a public, frenzied, and unhinged obsession with my favorite Magic the Gathering character). However, I couldn’t stay away from the topic entirely, so here we are. 

Introduction

The source of Nissa’s magic, its manifestation within Magic’s lore, and how it is represented mechanically on cards has intrigued me to no end over the years. Mechanically, I always felt that Nissa’s cards stood out more than the other two regularly-printed green planeswalkers (Garruk and Vivien). Garruk and Vivien cards often do what you would imagine a green planeswalker would do: create 3/3 green beast creature tokens, tutor creatures from your library, give overrun effects to your board, etc. The design space across these two characters’ cards always felt limited and uninspired to me. One of the things that intrigued me about Nissa, Worldwaker (read about my love for that card here) when I first encountered it in 2014 was the fact that it played around with lands rather than creatures: it animated lands into beaters, it untapped lands, it fetched lands from its owner’s library. This struck me as a unique, inspired design at the time, and it made me feel excited to use the card.

However, while yes, I have always found Nissa’s skillset a unique design for green planeswalkers – a fact that makes the desparkening all that much more disappointing to me – my primary interest in Nissa’s magic as a deranged Vorthos is how it is described in and displayed throughout the stories. 

Nissa, as we are often told in post-“Nissa, Worldwaker” stories, is the last of the animists, a rare type of mage on Zendikar who can hear the voice of the world itself, but the plane of Zendikar rarely had anything nice to say; in “Nissa's Origin: Home,” Nissa’s mother, Meroe says that the soul of the land, which so often is a source of terrible nightmares for Nissa, “was never after anything other than random destruction.” Animism, we learn, is a taboo brand of magic to the Joraga (the tribe Nissa belongs to), and Numa, the Joraga chieftain, exiles Nissa because he, like many others, believes that the inherent anger of the land is due to some untold, unknown blasphemy enacted on the world by the animists. He tells Meroe, “[y]our people angered Zendikar and they paid the price. There is a reason that you are the last of the animists.” We come to understand that the reason for the plane of Zendikar’s anger is due to the Eldrazi Titans’ imprisonment on it. The world recoils in disgust at the eldritch monstrosities who eternally strive to break free of their imprisonment and consume and pervert every living thing in their way; the plane’s anger feels justified in this light, but almost no one on Zendikar understands this, not even Nissa or her mother. 

So in short, animism in Magic the Gathering is the ability to connect with the soul of the world itself which allows animists like Nissa to (among other things) animate the land itself into living creatures that can fight alongside them. 

However, the concept of animism has meaning beyond the lore of Magic; why did Magic’s designers label Nissa’s powers this way, and how can a real world understanding of animism help us understand Nissa in a new way? 

Part I: The Animation of All Nature 

Animism is a term developed all the way back in the 1870’s by British anthropologist Sir Edward Tylor as a method to describe similarities in “primitive” religions. Let’s take a quick moment to acknowledge that Tylor was a bearded white man living in colonial-era Britain using words like “primitive” to describe the religions and philosophies of people he will never meet, many of whom were currently unwilling subjects of his own government. This is an unfortunate commonality in academic studies. That aside, Tylor’s description of animism gives us our first understanding of this term. He writes in his 1871 anthropological treatise Primitive Culture that “[f]irst and foremost among the causes which transfigure into myths the facts of daily experience, is the belief in the animation of all nature, rising at its highest pitch to personification” (emphasis mine). In other, simpler words, animists personify the natural world, assigning traditionally human traits to immobile objects. The root of the current English word animate, after all, comes from the Latin animus, which means “soul, spirit, mind.” The “animation of all nature,” then, refers to the belief that what we might call objects of the natural world have their own interiority. Tylor writes elsewhere that animism is

[a]n idea of pervading life and will in nature far outside modern limits, a belief in personal souls animating even what we call inanimate bodies, a theory of transmigration of souls as well in life as after death, a sense of crowds of spiritual beings sometimes flitting through the air, but sometimes also inhabiting trees and rocks and waterfalls, and so lending their own personality to such material objects.

Humanity’s relationship to nature, then, becomes that of subject-subject rather than that of subject-object. 

What does this say about Nissa, though? If you’re thinking that the above description is frighteningly similar to how Nissa views the world, you’d be right. While what Tylor argued back in the 1870’s was that animism is a crude belief system that would eventually evolve to the rise of world religions and later on the rejection of religion in rational society, Nissa’s practice of animism is very much alive and vibrant. It is hammered home often that Nissa deeply respects the personhood of objects, whether they be trees, animals, or even the ground itself. We see this very clearly in this long selection from the beginning of the Battle for Zendikar story “The Silent Cry”:

Every day there was something new, something Zendikar taught Nissa that surprised and delighted her. The land had hundreds of magnificent secrets, and it was sharing them with her.   She would never have guessed that the giant mantises secreted a scent meant to simulate the odor of fresh worms and thus attract small song birds—but not for the mantises to prey on, rather for the purpose of enjoying the birds' melodies. The songs were one of the few things capable of lulling the mantises into an easy sleep. Nor would she have known that the vines draped between the close-growing, towering heart trees of the Vastwood Forest were more like arms than vines—arms that were holding hands. Each vine grew out of the trunks of two trees; it did not belong to one tree more than the other, it was shared equally between them, a tether that bound the trees. The vines connected one heart tree with its chosen companion, and allowed the two to share memories, feelings, and dreams. These trees were linked forever; they mated for life. And the gnarlids, the silly, beastly, sneaky gnarlids; they had a ritual that they managed to keep hidden from most everyone else on Zendikar. On the darkest nights, when there was no moon but the skies were clear, the gnarlids scaled the tallest trees, poking their heads above the canopies, and they laughed at the stars. Little breathy snickers that to anyone else listening sounded like nothing more than the leaves of the highest branches rustling in the wind. It was an inside joke meant only for them. Equally as impressive was the tribe of humans who lived in the lowest canopy of the Vastwood's trees—not in a central encampment, but spread out through the expanse of the forest. Five or six humans shared each treehouse hamlet, and there were over a dozen hamlets. The tribe was able to stay well informed of each other's movements and needs thanks to their ancestors, who had closely studied the language of the chatter sloths. The people sent messages to each other by speaking to the nearest chatter sloth. It was only a matter of minutes before the sloth would relate the gossip to its neighbors, who would pass it along through the network of tree dwellers. Soon all humans in the tribe would know of the hamlet's news thanks to the little gossipmongers.

It’s important here that Nissa shares equal amazement with the goings on of plants and animals as she does with the ingenuity of her fellow sentient mortals; to her, they are no different. To Nissa, the “animation of all nature” is not some crude, outdated philosophy that has been surpassed by rationality. It is her everyday reality. 

Of course, however, Magic the Gathering is a game of wizards battling each other, and its worlds and characters are full of wonder and, well, magic. The “animation of all nature” has another meaning to Nissa in that she can call out to the interior soul of immobile objects and, in a non-metaphorical way, personify them … as in, she can “animate” objects into living, walking, thinking, fighting creatures with a will of their own. In the first story of the Zendikar Rising arc, “In the Heart of the Skyclave,” Nissa and Nahiri, looking for a specific object of interest, are at a loss at which place to begin hunting for it in a giant, city-sized airborne dungeon when Nissa spots a lone fern:

Nissa crouched down to one of the ferns. Its leaves were as large as she was, but its flowers were tiny, delicate, and blue. "How is it possible for plants to thrive here?" Nahiri asked, coming up behind her. Nissa smiled. "You'd be surprised at how many things thrive in unlikely places on this plane." "How—" Nahiri began to speak again, but Nissa tuned her out. She rested a hand on the top of the fern, like a parent's hand on the head of a child. She closed her eyes and felt its life under her fingers, felt its struggle and its pride in surviving in such a foreboding place. Nissa smiled at that strength and that pride. And she called it forth. She heard Nahiri give a gasp as the elemental emerged into existence. It was a tall thing, twice her height, green and vibrant as its life force, its head a mass of fronds with small chains of blue flowers entwining its arms and neck.

The dual meaning of the “animation of all nature” is on display here. Nissa very clearly acknowledges the personhood of the fern, using terms usually reserved for descriptions of the lives of people like struggle and pride, and at the same time she animates the stationary fern into a creature, a person with a will of its own and strength to match. In the end, many elements of the Zendikar Rising arc were lacking, but I always found this particular scene to be a wonderful marriage of the best parts of Magic story: great character moments tied together with a childlike wonder at the beauty and power of magic.

Part II: Infinite Possibilities

Anthropology, however, has moved far beyond its Victorian, colonialist roots. On the same note, Nissa has grown and expanded far beyond the borders of what she previously was.

In 2006, anthropologist Tim Ingold published an essay titled Rethinking the Animate, Re-Animating Thought that reevaluates the concept of animism (there are, of course, many evolutionary steps between the philosophies of 1871 and those of 2006, but for the purposes of this piece, suffice it to say that things have changed). Ingold’s primary thesis is that animism should be considered less of a primitive branch of religious thought and more of an ontological philosophy, an experience of being present in the world. In his research, Ingold provides this anecdote:

One man from among the Wemindji Cree, native hunters of northern Canada, offered the following meaning to the ethnographer Colin Scott. Life, he said, is ‘continuous birth.’ I want to nail that to my door! It goes to the heart of the matter. To elaborate: life in the animic ontology is not an emanation but a generation of being, in a world that is not pre-ordained but incipient, forever on the verge of the actual. One is continually present as witness to that moment, always moving like the crest of a wave, at which the world is about to disclose itself for what it is.

This is a lot to unpack, but let’s use this to point out the similarities and differences between the previous 1871 understanding of animism. Like Tylor’s initial exploration of the concept, Ingold’s animists still treat the world around them with same respect and reverence; they still, in other words, still interact with the world with a subject-subject relationship instead of a more rational subject-object relationship. However, instead of fixating on the spiritual aspects of animism (i.e. - the inherent soul of inanimate objects), this modern take is more of a state of being, a practice of actively engaging with the world around you. 

Ingold, in other places, argues that, while yes, animism intentionally blurs the line between what is considered ‘alive’ and what is not, the true cornerstone of an animist ontology is the process of change:

Wherever there is life there is movement … The movement of life is specifically of becoming rather than being, of renewal along a path rather than displacement in space. Every creature, as it ‘issues forth’ and trails behind, moves in its characteristic way. The sun is alive because of the way it moves through the firmament, but so too are the trees because of the particular ways their boughs sway or their leaves flutter in the wind, and because of the sounds they make in doing so.

An animist, then, in this ontology is in a responsive, conversational relationship with the world around them. They wouldn’t fixate, for example, on the personhood of a tree, but they would know how to have a positive, symbiotic relationship with the tree.

What does this new way of looking at animism have to do with Nissa Revane, though? It seemed like Tylor’s outdated definition of animism already had both Nissa’s worldview and the manifestation of her magic pegged down. What could be added? Well, like the definition of animism, like this “world that is not pre-ordained but incipient, forever on the verge of the actual,” Nissa herself has changed drastically in recent years.

If I had the time and bandwidth, I might set out to argue that, of all Magic’s heroes in the last decade, Nissa has gone through the most character growth of any of them; she has shifted through the most colors and she has gone through the most development of any other planeswalker. However, for the purposes of this piece, I’m going to focus on the most recent story (to date) that Nissa has appeared in: Grace P. Fong’s “She Who Breaks the World.” Now, I’ve made it no secret that this is my favorite piece of Magic fiction since the Ixalan days, so I’m certainly biased here, but the narrative meat in this text is rich and vibrant.

When we pick back up with Nissa in “She Who Breaks the World,” we find her at likely the lowest point we have ever seen her at. Her agonies are manyfold at this point. To start, she is still reeling from the unbearable trauma of what the Phyrexians did to her. She had set out with a strike team of her planeswalker allies to stop the Phyrexian invasion of the multiverse, but upon their failure, Nissa, along with many of the others, were captured. Her mind was chemically altered against her will to be utterly, completely submissive to the will of Elesh Norn (the Phyrexian leader, if this essay somehow reaches beyond the MTG sphere). Similarly, her body (again, against her will) was then chemically and mechanically altered to be more in line with the Phyrexian understanding of perfection. Then, Norn used Nissa’s body, mind, and animist powers to launch an invasion of the entire multiverse; Nissa ended up being instrumental in this process because it was her animist abilities that allowed Norn to directly control the Invasion Tree.

Nissa was eventually freed from the Phyrexians’ control in the aftermath of the war, her mind given back to her, and as much of the grafted metal removed from her body as could safely be removed. However, no level of healing could “cleanse the memories of what she had done” while her mind was under the domination of Phyrexia. She understandably has trouble forgiving herself for what she did, whether she had agency in the act or not.

Secondly, if that wasn’t bad enough, after she woke up with her mind intact, she discovered that she had lost her planeswalker spark. While she is not alone in this (all of the other planeswalkers currently on Zhalfir aside from Chandra lost theirs as well), it hits Nissa particularly hard because, for one Nissa has always had a deep connection to her home world of Zendikar, and secondly, Zhalfir is full of people she tried to ruthlessly kill while under the influence of Phyrexia. She cut down in cold blood dozens, if not hundreds, of these survivors’ friends and family. While the surviving Mirrans and Zhalfrins understand that she did not have control of herself during this time and forgave her, Nissa does not feel incredibly comfortable living around people she so directly harmed. She is restlessly homesick with no feasible way to get home and stuck with people she doesn’t feel worthy enough to be around. Furthermore, Nissa’s planeswalker powers are integral to the identity she has created for herself. This sense of self is just one more thing she has lost.

And lastly, there is the issue with Chandra. While they were technically a romantic couple after they kissed at the end of the previous March of the Machines story, “The Rhythms of Life,” things are still far from well between them. Apart from the tremendous guilt and shame Nissa feels from what she did to Chandra during the Phyrexian story arc (Nissa almost killed Chandra multiple times, one time even impaling her), both of them are still dealing with the fallout of their breakup as described in War of the Spark: Forsaken (even typing the name of that book makes me feel ill). Nissa wonders if Chandra can ever love her the way she needs and if that is even a reasonable thing to ask of her after all the two of them have recently gone through.

While this was a long, drawn-out summary, I think it was necessary to show what Nissa is going through on the cusp of her metamorphosis. The depression she is feeling along with what could probably be described as PTSD has left her stuck in the past. She laments the fact that she no longer hears the voice of nature. The leyline songs are completely silent, and when she calls out to the soul she knows dwells in all the objects in the world around her, nothing answers. She assumes this is punishment for what the Phyrexians made her do. 

She’s wrong, however. Nissa and Chandra finally have a moment of understanding between the two of them, and as a part of this intimate moment, Nissa finally admits that her animist power no longer work; when Chandra expresses surprise at this, Nissa responds,

"They won't listen to me. I tried. Many times. But when I call out to them, it's like my voice isn't my own. Like it belongs to Phyrexia instead, like everything I've ever connected to is drowning me out." For once, Chandra pauses. "You know," she concludes. "You have good connections, too." "What do you mean?" "It's true—you did bad things while they had you. But everyone you've connected with over the years with the Gatewatch, we're just happy you're still here. With us." Chandra sets fire to a chunk of moist dirt that was about to fall on Nissa, turning it into a soft rain of ash. "With me." For the first time since she awoke in Zhalfir, Nissa smiles. Chandra, sweet Chandra, even if she doesn't realize it, has always understood and explained emotions better than Nissa ever could. Chandra continues, "Your connections aren't drowning your voice, Nissa. They're changing it into something new, maybe something even more powerful. Infinite voices, infinite possibilities, right?" Infinite possibilities. Nissa offers her hand to Chandra. "All right, let's try." Gripping Chandra's fingers in hers, Nissa closes her eyes. She retreats inward and listens for her inner voice. It's hard, much harder than before, but Chandra is dutifully helping her concentrate, blasting the falling rock away before it can reach her.

Nissa is greeted by ringing deep in her ears, but she refuses to be deterred. With her connections in mind, she picks the static apart into unique melodies, the individual songs she picked up from all around the Multiverse. She arranges them, harmonizes them, and this time, when she calls to Zhalfir, her voice is amplified in chorus. She offers an apology. The plane answers. It too was cut off from everything it knew, from the connections it had made. It, too, was scarred by Phyrexia and is growing into something new. It forgives her, and Nissa can finally forgive herself. Magic floods her flesh, her blood, her bone. She hears Chandra laugh, delighted by their success.

I could literally talk forever about this scene, how it is also a marriage of everything I love about Magic Story, but let’s zero in on how Nissa’s change in perspective is similar to how animism has changed meanings over the past one-hundred and fifty years.

In the same way that Tylor was fixated on how “primitive” he felt animism was, how it was just a cultural stepping stone on the way to enlightenment, Nissa remained fixated on her animist powers. To her, the voices of the natural world were oftentimes more real to her than the voices of her friends. The songs of the leylines, the elementals she could animate with a whisper, the power she wielded in defense of the worldsoul … To Nissa, these were all in all.

However, what Nissa learns from Chandra in the climax of “She Who Breaks the World'' is to accept that life is exactly what Ingold calls a “continuous birth.” Nissa embraces this conversational relationship with the world around her, and nature is no longer all in all to her. Hand in hand with Chandra, Nissa now lives “in a world that is not pre-ordained but incipient, forever on the verge of the actual,” as Ingold puts it, and a world of “infinite possibilities,” as Fong puts it.

As the definition of real-world animism has shifted over the years, so too has Nissa’s magical animism. She used to obsess over her connection with nature with religious fervor, and even though Nissa worshiped no gods, her devotion to the soul of the world around her was stronger than many devout worshippers on Theros. However, in “She Who Breaks the World,” Nissa learns to recognize that she, and the rest of the world around her, is alive because she moves in her own “characteristic way.”

Epilogue

While I have certainly been burned by WotC’s treatment of Nissa in the past, I am cautiously excited for the stories that can now be told about her. Nissa is currently set up to grow and expand in interesting ways, and I hope (beyond hope) that future Magic stories starring Nissa will continue on the path that Fong set her on.

Nissa may be the last of the animists, but that doesn’t mean she can’t be the first of something else. I’m excited to see what that “something else” will be.

Bibliography

Every source quoted in this essay is linked directly before the quote in question. I was too lazy to create a reference page today. Sorry! 😬

[bones-and-whatnot]

Monster Prom Fantasy AU

Based on the costumes from the auditorium. most of them are written so you could imagine them to be humans or to still be a fantasy society of monsters— whatever floats your boat, I go back and forth myself.

THE PALACE

The Princess Miranda: The youngest of the king’s daughters. Adored by everyone in the kingdom (whether they like it or not). She is rarely ever seen, but people are always talking about her— what she’s wearing, what her favorite things are, who she will marry, what would be the best way to kidnap and/or kill her…

Count de Lioncourt: Another noble, who has only taken up residence in the palace very recently. He is supposedly related to the royal family, but it’s unclear how. He doesn’t want to be king— any fool can be king— but he definitely wouldn’t mind having a comfortable position by a monarch’s ear, safely away from the public eye. And the poor sheltered princess could certainly use someone to help her make… well-informed decisions.

Ser (Dame?) Schmidt: First name Victoria. The newest recruit to the knights of the kingdom; she is very, very eager to work her way up through the ranks. Above all else, she is loyal to the princess.

THE FOREST

The Sting in Yellow: A mysterious, quiet swordsman who travels the wood. They strike fear into the hearts of all who see them… although no one is really sure what exactly they do.

Bruyn the Green: Long ago, a terrible dragon dwelt in the forest. Every year, in mid-April, it would approach the kingdom and ask tribute of the people in form of their crops and livestock. At last, the dragon was slain, but the whereabouts of its body are unknown and legend says it merely slumbers beneath the earth, and will one day rise from the dead.

In the heart of the forest, there sits an enormous tree. It has no name, but according to myth, it dates back to a time before we walked the earth. There once was a curious wolf, who lived in a pack with his brothers. One day, despite their warning, he strayed too far from the rest of the group and became lost in the woods. The wolf spent many nights trying to find his way back to his home, not eating or sleeping until he eventually expired of exhaustion. Roots and wood grew over him that night, and he became a beautiful tree, home to birds and squirrels and insects of all types. At night, the spirit of the wolf leaves the tree to continue his search, but must return before daylight. It is said that the whistling of the wind through the leaves is his mournful howl, crying out for a family long since dead.

THE LANDS BEYOND

Amira, Mistress of the Flames: An evil sorceress in eternal conflict with both the Demon King and His Highness King Vanderbilt. From her tower in the outlands, she controls an army of flaming skeleton warriors and screaming fire spirits. It is rumored that she can scry through any flame anywhere in the world. So the next time you think about lighting up your fireplace, ask yourself: are you really that chilly?

The Demon King: Son of criminals exiled from the kingdom, the man now known as the Demon King grew up in a harsh, inhospitable region of the outlands. By the time he was six, he had killed the leaders of the three bandit groups who controlled the area and formed his own army of scoundrels and brutes. Today, the lands beyond the kingdom are in a constant power struggle between the Demon King’s hordes and the legions belonging to the Mistress of Flames. The leaders of the two factions hate each other with burning passion, but they hate the King Vanderbilt even more.

The Automated Man of Culeicester: The Automated Man is all that remains of Culeicester, an ancient city of wondrous scientific marvels located in what is now the distant badlands of the continent. The Automated Man still remains in the city’s ruins after untold years, continuing to fulfill the purpose for which he was constructed: To tend to the mythically beautiful Gardens of Culeicester. Of course, the land is now so arid that only the hardiest plants requiring the least water remain, but still the Automated Man works, untiring, as the lone bearer of all Culeicester’s lost knowledge. If you can find him (and convince him to step away from his plants), he is a powerful asset.

THE ROGUES

Vera Oberlin: The greatest assassin you’ve never heard of. Those who are unfortunate enough to know of her existence say that she was raised in the mountains by panthers who taught her the savage ways of their claws and teeth. They say she has a city of gold underneath the city streets made from the riches of those she has killed. They say no one has ever seen her face and lived to tell the tale. Whether these things are true, no one can say for sure, but the mysterious Vera seems to be on a meteoric rise through the kingdom’s underworld. The suspicion of most in the know is that she has her eye on the crown.

Doctor Geist: You can call her Polly. A physician and mixer of medicines who recently arrived to the kingdom. Her past is unknown, as she gives a different answer every time. She is quite cheerful, and despite the nature of her profession (or perhaps because of it), has a very carefree attitude towards death, usually only reacting to harm coming to her patients with mild surprise or disappointment. She tends to be rather… experimental with her procedures and concoctions, and self-tests liberally. There are rumors of a connection to the criminal underworld.

Zed, Scribe of the Zoites: An energetic young woman, the church Zed was raised in encouraged her to go on a pilgrimage and learn the ways of the world after she became a bit overzealous in her duties of cataloging information on the group’s members. Because of her close connection to her god, she possesses second sight and can see the alternate paths people’s lives may take, which she dutifully and eagerly inscribes (along with most things she sees) on the scrolls she carries with her. Being a prophet isn’t all fun and games, though— Zed is often tormented by visions of awful futures or dreadful pasts where her god enacts terrible punishment on the world. She is motivated by desire for knowledge and for new experiences of any kind; she wants to learn about and chronicle as much as she can and isn’t about to let silly things like “morality” or “boundaries” keep her from that goal.