#the era of order. [worldbuilding/lore]

[ask-ivory-periastron]

Ivory, why are you doing this? Like... what's the point of killing the deities?

killing? I don’t intend on killing them… they still have use to me, even if this new era has no place for them. Letting them die would be a huge waste… they would do much better as weapons at my command. (She gesters to a wall, all 7 of the original swords on desplay in various states of disrepair, a silverish one seems to have been broken in half..)

and as for why I’m doing this? Don’t you see it? The world is too chaotic when left alone. Everyone is fighting each other, people killing for fun, wars… isn’t it much better with someone to reign them all in?

[nightshade-and-stardust]

KPop Demon Hunters has my lore and mythology nerd heart in a chokehold. Like i have been so hyped to fall down a research rabbit hole and I've loved learning about Korean mythology and folklore. The writing and development team for KPDH did their homework and put so much love and effort into the worldbuilding and research that I'm absolutely certain that if we get sequel movies or a series Korean mythology might give us a hint of what's to come.

So a crash course in Korean mythology/folklore for those who are unfamiliar (like me a week ago lol) supernatural creatures in Korean folklore are typically sorted into two categories, Gwishin and Dokkaebi. Gwisin are spirits and sometimes even deities that were humans in life, while Dokkaebi are nature spirits or spirits possessing objects that were never human. I think we see both kinds of 'demons' in KPDH, with the more oni-looking spirits likely being Dokkaebi, since they also resemble depictions of Dokkaebi in Korean art and sculpture, and the water spirits that appear in the men's bathhouse are likely Mul Gwishin, spirits of people who drowned who try to drown others in order to give themselves a companion. Then of course there are the Saja boys, who are all Jeoseung Saja, Grim Reaper-like spirits that help ferry souls between the living and the dead.

What gets me is that most of these spirits, while they can be violent or vengeful, are equally capable of just being mischievous or playful with mortals, sometimes even helpful. The Jeoseung Saja especially don't seem to be written as evil, simply a necessary presence needed to maintain order between the living and the dead, if anything they are kind, helping souls achieve peace. Either earlier Demon Hunters knew that there were good spirits and maintained a balance, working with good spirits to keep malevolent spirits in check, OR the Demon Hunters might have upset that spiritual balance and betrayed good and neutral spirits when they sealed all demons away, leading to normally neutral spirits like the Jeoseung Saja aligning themselves with Gwi-Ma, an overtly malevolent demon because they had no other option with the mortal realm sealed away (I am inclined to believe that it could have been Celine or Celine's mentor that could have pushed for the total sealing of the honmoon, which would have betrayed the good spirits).

Either way, I think that if the story continues, I think we're gonna see Rumi, Mira, and Zoey usher in a new era for Demon Hunters with Rumi as the linchpin with her mixed Hunter-demon heritage where the girls are the first to get back to the roots of the Demon Hunters, working with spirits to take out evil spirits threatening to hurt people but also forming connections with spirits, possibly like helping Gwishin spirits complete their unfinished business and pass on to the afterlife.

[ask-ivory-periastron]

Oh? Is the supposed god of death afraid of me? (She gives a chuckle, menacing…)

how cute! Really! I thought you couldn’t feel fear!… is what I whouldve said if I didn’t witness it first hand..

Well well well, look who it is- a suprise seeing you here- (DING DONG BITCH LOOK WHO IT IS!)

...

No.

Get away.

[vm-haunts]

Crossover Headcanons: Worldbuilding Edition

A collection of DPxDC headcanons from myself and various posts, in no particular order.

Green stuff

Dionesium is, or is one of the main decay byproduct of, ectoplasm. It is the defining element in Lazarus water.

Lazarus water is a naturally occurring compound that amplifies certain effects of ectoplasm. Concentration of ectoplasm in the waters is surprisingly low despite the appearance.

College trio as the Doctor Three. Who lead the study on dionesium in Gotham University at some point.

Talons created by the Court of Owls are a special type of liminals, and communicates within themselves via a dialect of ghost speak.

Realms stuff

Infinite realms, or pockets within it, had been observed and accessed before, by different civilizations under numerous different names.

The Kryptonians used the realms as a means of banishment, which they called the phantom zone.

GIW stuff

GIW is operating under All Purpose Enforcement Squad (APES), headquarters in mount Rushmore.

Anti-ecto Acts is a set of old laws dating back to civil war era, only brought back into practice in recent years.

Liminals have significantly higher chance of activating metagene. May or may not be causing the metagene mutation in the first place.

Anti-ecto Acts might be intentionally exploited as a backdoor to meta protection acts.

Ring stuff

Pariah Dark's ring of rage turned into the phantom ring after Danny officially claimed it. It enhances all emotions of the owner equally.

Danny lost his ring at some point and it became known to the lanterns as the phantom ring.

In the hands of realm ghosts the phantom ring glows green regardless of the emotion it is enhancing, as ghosts are beings of pure will. Otherwise it is black with a faint white glow. (Can't believe this one matches up, I love lore stitching)

Balance stuff

Danny bears both Life Force and Death Force in equal amounts. His only way to accessing them is channelling a mixture of the two to power his ghost wail.

Ghost Wail infused with both acts like a simple sonic attack. But if powdered only by death force it's functionally the same thing as Void Wind, which 'negates the power and immortality of the gods. Enabling it to shut down any form of arcana used against it'.

Dark Danny only process death force as he no longer have a human side for balance. His death infused wail could be how he destroyed the world without much interference from magic users.

Danny's Wail can be infused with only life force instead, which would eviscerate ghosts. Possibly only possible when he is in human form.

Glitchy stuff (not really DC related)

Dark Danny's attack on Clockwork's tower created some pretty severe glitchs in time (ha) across all of the living realms.

As the clocktower take damage some universes collapsed together, and some timelines became contradictory and paradoxical (typical comic reboot am I right?😅)

After Dan finally calmed down he becomes the ultimate errand boy for clockwork. Showing up an fixing things he broke under the guidance of the ghost of Time.

Stranger stuff

Dan got sentenced to Life (literal) in an alternate ending of glitch in time, which capped his destruction and eventually calmed him off.

Reformed Dan is doing social services as penance, in the DC multiverse he goes by the alias of Phantom Stranger.

[cityofmeliora]

Hello again!

Anon who asked this question: https://www.tumblr.com/cityofmeliora/784818568710799360/the-second-papa-was-a-party-animal-i-ask-this?source=share

Thank you so much for answering! I read this post here that seemed to do a quick summary of the lore: https://www.tumblr.com/cityofmeliora/784805227430887424?source=share

And I only read it once... and while I did get a little bit of it... the rest was so... it left me like 😵‍💫 😵‍💫 😵‍💫 by the end of it. Not op's fault of course.

Do you know why the people who really run the ministry want the papas to be musicians?? I'm guessing they believe music will make spreading the word of Satan easier? (Did certain Papas know they were being used???)

Speaking of the devil, I'm guessing he's a character in the universe?? Does the ministry want to take over the world with Satan?? And if so, have they ever thought that he might double-cross them??

Qwertyrytu sorry if these questions are too silly. 😅

Also, THERE ARE GHOST COMICS???

Were they popular / are they still being made?? There's so much lore /story in different medias (music videos [i think?], interviews, regular videos, lyrics, performances [maybe?] possibly that one 2024 movie, etc, etc etc. 🤯)

Since you likely consumed a lot of it, I'm guessing the fandom's fanart / fanfics don't 100% follow the lore?? It also feels like it be impossible to. Most people are maybe canon divergent?? Are people in the fandom picky about people who don't follow the lore?

hi again!!!! thank you so much for sending another ask, i really like answering these (though it takes me a while) :3c

i'll answer this in parts.

1: Do you know why the people who really run the ministry want the papas to be musicians?? I'm guessing they believe music will make spreading the word of Satan easier? (Did certain Papas know they were being used???)

this is a quote from Ghost's old Myspace page from 2010– the earliest piece of Ghost lore / worldbuilding that describes who they are and what their mission is:

Ghost is the name of a devil worshipping ministry that – in order to spread their unholy gospels and, furthermore, trick mankind into believing that the end is ultimately a good thing – have decided to use the ever so popular rock music medium as a way to achieve their ends. …. Standing motionless and anonymous beneath the painted faces, hoods and robes which their sect demand, the six nameless ghouls of Ghost deliver litanies of sexually pulsating heavy rock music and romantic lyrics, which glorify and glamorise the disgusting and sacrilegious, with the simple intention to communicate a message of pure evil via the most effective device they can find: Entertainment. Ghost official Myspace (2010)

basically, Ghost has always been the efforts of a satanic cult to spread satan's influence through rock music. their specific goals / beliefs / presentation have changed over time, though.

in Era 1 (2010), the cult's goal was to hasten humanity's demise, so they wanted to further corrupt humanity by spreading evil messages. in Era 2 (2013), they shifted away from the overtly evil presentation and focused more on entertainment and social commentary– wanting to free and enlighten people by criticizing and satirizing the hypocrisy of christianity. Era 2 didn't say much about the Ghost cult itself and its beliefs. Era 3 (2015) kept the main messaging of Era 2, but made the Ghost cult itself relevant again. their goal seems to have changed from 'convince people the apocalypse is good' to 'world domination'. this is when the character Sister Imperator was first introduced as the boss of the clergy, and she described their failure to achieve those goals in the Era 3 lore video series, The Summoning:

SISTER IMPERATOR: Brothers and Sisters, you know why you are here tonight. This Ministry is now seven years into The Ghost Project. Seven long years of work. Two Papas, two albums, one gold. These are indeed some respectable numbers, but let me give you some others. Churches opened: zero. Governments toppled: zero. World leaders converted to the cause: zero. You call yourselves salesmen? Masterminds? You have done shit! And don't blame the music. The music is the very manifestation of His Dark Majesty. The Summoning (part 1)

however, the new Sister Imperator comics (2025) show a different in-universe backstory of the band Ghost. the comics reveal that The Ghost Project was entirely Sister Imperator's idea. she created the band and designed the character of "Papa" to be played by Nihil, and there's no mention of a satanic church / ministry at that time. Sister Imperator created Ghost because she loves music and wanted their concerts to spread positive messages and be a safe space free of religious oppression (this explanation is much like TF's actual IRL motivation behind Ghost). we don't currently know how the idea of the satanic cult / church / ministry started in the timeline of the Sister Imperator comics.

as for the question of whether certain Papas knew they were being used... yes. most of them know. they all have different feelings about it, though.

Papa I / Primo didn't care. he honestly saw himself as a humble servant of satan and was happy to do the work. this is shown in early Primo interviews, and it's something i talked about a lot in my old post about my notes and thoughts on Primo's characterization.

Papa II / Secondo also didn't really care. he was a bit disappointed but fully accepting of the fact. he was 100% aware that he was there for a good time, not a long time.

PAPA EMERITUS II: I wasn't here in the beginning, and unfortunately, I won't be here until the end. It kind of blows that I am, in many ways, making the bed for someone coming after me. But hey, that's life. Ghost B.C. - The Olde One - Papaganda Ep. 1

Papa III / Terzo... i think he knew and was very upset by that fact, but tried to push back against it as much as he could. i believe this was ultimately his downfall. i talked about this in my very first lore analysis post about Terzo, and in my post about Terzo being deposed.

Cardi was not aware he was being used until he was nearing the end of his time as Papa. he had a brief moment of realization that was quickly shut down by Papa Nihil and Sister Imperator. i'm not sure how much he understands what's going on now that he's been promoted to Frater Imperator.

PAPA EMERITUS IV: One thing I do not understand… All these things… here, all of this stuff, and all of these things we’re doing, where we go, and when, and to where… Who decides these things? I mean, who’s calling the shots? RITE HERE RITE NOW (2024)

Papa Nihil doesn't give a fuck. he does whatever Sister Imperator asks him to do <3

2: Speaking of the devil, I'm guessing he's a character in the universe?? Does the ministry want to take over the world with Satan?? And if so, have they ever thought that he might double-cross them??

answered the stuff about the Ministry wanting to take over the world in the previous question. anyway, the actual devil appears to be a character in the Ghost universe– in Chapter 5, he calls Sister Imperator on the phone and tells her it's "the Old One" calling. "Old One" is one of the names for the devil that's used in Ghost's music. it's a bit difficult to interpret this scene because it was a funny joke scene. like, is the devil real? it seems so. maybe, since there are supernatural elements in the Ghost universe, like actual ghosts. he seems to be on the side of Ghost / the Clergy, but we don't know what's really going on with the devil.

3. Also, THERE ARE GHOST COMICS??? Were they popular / are they still being made??

Yes! the comics are a new thing. what we have so far is the Sister Imperator mini-series from Dark Horse Comics. it's 4 issues and it came out this year. #4 is going to be released in a few weeks from now. unfortunately, they don't seem to be super popular with fans on tumblr– probably because the new information in it is changing parts of the established lore and going against popular fanon ideas. also, a lot of people here dislike Sister Imperator as a character. but comic #1 sold out and got a reprint, so at least some people are reading it! i think the comics are 100% ABSOLUTELY WORTH READING. THE SISTER IMPERATOR COMIC IS REALLY GOOD. it's the only piece of Ghost lore media that takes itself 100% seriously and is actually trying to tell a story, which i appreciate SO MUCH. the pacing is insane because it's only 4 issues and it's hard to understand sometimes because of that (and also due to the fact that almost none of the characters have names), but i PROMISE it is worth reading. i LOVE these comics. i hope we get more comics in the future.

4. Since you likely consumed a lot of it, I'm guessing the fandom's fanart / fanfics don't 100% follow the lore?? It also feels like it be impossible to. Most people are maybe canon divergent?? Are people in the fandom picky about people who don't follow the lore?

fan art and fanfics in the Ghost fandom are everyone's own interpretations / understanding of the lore, which includes intentional canon divergence, alternate universes, popular unofficial fanon, and common misconceptions / misinformation about the lore. nobody in the Ghost fandom 100% follows the lore. as much as i try to, it is impossible because the Ghost lore & worldbuilding has historically been 1) very hard to find because it's scattered across so many different sources, 2) inconsistent because Tobias Forge didn't have a plan for a long time, and 3) difficult to interpret due to the fact that a lot of the lore is presented in a humorous / joking way. very little about the lore actually gets explained, and it has all changed a lot and will continue to change over time. i'd say that probably 99% of Ghost fans are not picky about people not following the lore because they don't even know the actual facts of the lore themselves, but that's okay. and the people who do know the lore are nice too. i'm picky about people not following the lore, but i promise i'm still nice!! i have friends who have crazy AUs and have headcanons that are absolutely not aligned with the canon lore at all, and i'm chill with that. in this fandom, people tend to just make up whatever they want. personally, i'm not a fan of doing that because i like having a certain amount of rules and guidelines to base ideas & headcanons on, and i take more of an analytical approach to the lore rather than a purely creative approach. i'm really picky about the official / canon lore because i honestly think it's really really interesting! i wish more people would talk about it and acknowledge the interesting and funny and cool things in the official / canon lore. it is really disappointing to me that a lot of people seem to be uninterested in it and ignore it. i think people could make a lot of interesting and fun headcanons and AUs and art and fanfiction and stuff if people knew more about the canon lore to draw inspiration from! so this is why my main thing here is posting Ghost lore stuff for other fans to see.

[gffa]

What I mean when I say, "I think we have to have learned our lesson by this point [with Star Wars shows and 'Deep Lore']–whatever deeply complex ideas we try to come up with, the shows themselves basically never match anything near that level of detail, depth, or complexity." is exemplified by the excitement over the Zeffo references in Ahsoka. Basically, hieroglyphs in episode 7 of Ahsoka that translate to "praise Kujet", who was a sage from the Zeffo people who are an ancient, mysteriously vanished people from the video game Jedi: Fallen Order and Kujet specifically has ties to having a great amount of power on Dathomir in some form. It's very tempting to want to take this and think that Filoni is going to build something major out of these connections and I'm saying, we have got to have learned our lesson by this point. Filoni does not care about the supplementary material, nothing in this series or his episode of The Mandalorian or The Book of Boba Fett or even particularly any of his TCW/Rebels work have born this kind of connectivity out. He likes to include things, like there's an almost-nod to Revan in TCW, but it's not meant to go anywhere, it's just cool. The recent Obi-Wan Kenobi series included a planet named Jabiim, which was a significant planet with an important story in the Legends Clone Wars era, but within the show, that connection does not affect anything, it's just the name of a planet, a cool nod. Hell, I wouldn't even necessarily put money that Filoni himself chose the nod to Kujo/the Zeffo/JFO, it could have been a set designer who was frantically looking up anything to do with Dathomir on Wikipedia and thought it would be a cool easter egg to put in there. Or maybe it was Filoni, it's not impossible that this is a deliberate signpost to where this is going! But I think looking at the established patterns of these shows and how little these easter eggs have ever born real fruit and temper our expectations. Go wild with the speculation, that's great! But Star Wars is not laying out a roadmap where you can find the clues and guess the ending by the easter eggs, they're fun little discoveries, but I don't believe for a single solitary second that Felony is counting on us to pick up on the clues to put together a strong case for worldbuilding. And I'm not saying this to be a pill about it, either! I just think we'll build more satisfying theories if we understand that the source material itself isn't always going to build up the way we wish it would, that instead we'll have more fun if we treat these as extra bonuses, rather than the real foundation of what the "lore" of Star Wars is!

[cepheusgalaxy]

so with whump

as a group? fandom? or any other word syebsj

usually it's fictional character and fics right but if you were to interact with other whumpees (that the term) like as roleplay or i dunno

would you or

okay maybe that's a confusing way of putting my question suwnsj

uh just tell me about your own experiences :3 if you wanna

Ok my experiences with whump? I'm not big on roleplaying (although it looks fun. just maybe not for me) so i'll talk about the community

They're awesome or at least the bubble I'm in like

There's one guy who got his acount deleted like a thousand times but he always swings back and he draws super well I like to reference from him and he's super nice

Then there this person who makes comics and they have so many I can't keep up

Then there's this uh lady? Woman? What's like a casual way to say it in english. Like guy but for girls. Anyway, she has a series that's so fun

And there's this person with such nice caracters I kinda picked my name from there.......

Oh, oh there's one thing that's like super nice and that's BBU

Its like a community worldbuilding like. Its premise is that there is a modern kind of world where humans are kept as slaves called "boxies" (because if people "order" them they arrive in packages)—thats why we call it the Box Boy Universe—and there's this organization called WRU (no idea what this name means i think its we r umpers or smth) that "trains" them and there are Safehouses for runaways and theres also The Pet Lib Movement

And it's a fun universe because everyone can use it! And so there's a lot of collaboration like, there's some part of the worldbuilding you don't wanna flesh out? This person here already did it. There is so much lore made by so many people and the fun is that you get to decide what is canom in your bbu

Also theres this person who took such a turn on it they (i dont remember their pronouns rn) imagined how it would be a bbu world but like in the black and white tv era. They did the origins of WRU (the evil slavery organization) and its like i haven't read it yet but it's such a fun concept

I also like the prompts. There's always some crazy thing I haven't thought about and it's lots of fun

There's also the community events (like febuwhump—one of the only i participed in lmao—where we get prompts for each day of february and write or draw something) idk they're fun people

[nocturne-side-blog]

˖⁺‧₊˚ WIP Tag Game ˚₊‧⁺˖

When you're tagged, share the names of each wip doc you have no matter how ridiculous! Tag as many people as you have WIPS, if you can. Open asks to talk about these WIPS!

Thanks for the tag, @aegon-targaryen! I've actually done this one before and it was so long, but it's somehow managed to get longer... Gonna divide it into categories this time to make more sense of my insanity. 💀

As always, I'm open to answering questions about them! ♡

Fic Update WIPs

WIPs for chapter updates.

The Mage’s Lantern (Doc 2)

Stone Fate

Forget me Not

Origins of Calamity

totk rewrite

Unreleased Fic WIPs

Multi-chapters I haven't posted yet.

my tloz 1986 lore abyss + ROG Plotline

crack au + crack fic

Anachronism

Age of Imprisoning

Wait for Me

The Ancient Era

well excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

in another life

three eras

Hero's Awakening

calamity au

Yeah

Spy x Family: The Unseen Files (not zelda sorry lol)

ace attorney thing idk

HE'S GOT AN ATTITUDE

plumbing's our game

One Shot WIPS below the break, there's a lot. ^^"

One Shot WIPs

WIPs for one shots.

Voe & You

Voe & Me

I'm Home

Ash on the Wind

Divine Disappointment

Unsung Hero

Slow Dance

Something Human

Ballad of the Pirate Queen

(title something to do with colors)

Somewhere Before

To Wait for Millinnea

Mortal Growth

zelda borrows link's clothes or something

bokoblin study + monster ecosystem

If Boats could Talk (They'd Tell You Stories of the Wars They've Seen)

midna diary

albw zelda gets caught

Hero's Shade story thing

sage avatar therapy

Midnight at Hateno Bay

link sure hopes zelda's alive and not a dragon

Home Away from Home

A Prophecy Fufilled

knockoff zelink

Sheik's Lies

scrapper :(

Stick in the Mud

Circadian Rhythm

The Latest Rumors

Feeling "Thank You"

Fit for a Princess

My Voice

Condé's Hot Chocolate

Last Time We Met...

Foreboding Discovery

My Destiny

The Gift of Your Time

A Pirate's Grace

mural

shopping

sick fic

Watch of the Descendant

Ivy

Kiss and Tell

The New Guard (auru pov)

all the time in the world

legally blonde good ending (????)

Cut Strings; Princess's Lament

zelink hildavio double date

Save You from Me

Trials of Hylia

Tangled Bait

IAL Vignettes

About a dozen other unnamed concepts in my idea doc.

Original Legend Concepts

Worldbuilding and writing WIPs for original TLOZ stories. Many of them have multiple docs, so I went with the ones I have been using the most with them lately.

almost-swapped-but-not-really

Modern AU Wordlbuilding + Modern AU Idea Dumping

Sea of the Hidden City

Dream Spinner Ideas

Imminent Darkness

fairytale aus

Era of Malice

wots out of order

Sages of Hyrule

Legends Crossed

zelda ttrpg + zelda fighting game

DW COMIC TRANSCRIPT

THE FABLE OF HYRULE...

more I am too lazy to dig for

Wilting Heart

Strings of Darkness

Art WIPs

return of ganon sketch concepts

gentleman

att refs

commission

(insert all the sketches for tml cover redraws here I'm not listing all that)

fmn banner

other stuff I probably am forgetting

I think this most of it, I got a bit lazy here and there keeping track so I clumped things together. Most of my stuff has 2-4 docs. I definitely can't tag this many people because I don't know that many, but I'll try to tag as many as possible who I haven't seen tagged already. 🫡

✦ Tagging...

@cherrysalsa @hurricane105 @mistresslrigtar @leiladebees @zeldadiarist @aheavenscorner @linktheacehero @dubiiousfood @skyyknights @karama9 @amelias-hart @musical-chan @citrinediamondeyes @cetaseok @mailrebel @michpat6 @minstrelsmusings @ladye-zelda @isasan347 @pastelsandpining

And anyone else who would like to participate! :)

[ask-ivory-periastron]

((Looks like the poll hath spoken… let’s have some fun shall we?))

Ugh… things have been slow….

(a silver figure comes into the room)

“Ma’am, we have an issue”

(that… seemed to have gotten her attention…)

…. what is it Caltrops?…

“….. someone has taken out Magenta Void”

WHAT???

(One of the screens behind her glitches a bit before landing on a camera somewhere in a lab-like facility. One of many test tube like containers line the area the camera was pointed at.. most notably one of them was open… and a figure seemed to be laying inside it- bearly understanding where the hell it is… but he knows he needs to get out as soon as he’s able to.)

NEW CHARACTERS UNLOCKED:

SPIKED DEATH TRAP, CALTROPS

CURRENTLY “EX-GREAT” BLACKROCKIAN SCIENTIST, SUBSPACE

1/14 phighters.

0/7 Deities.

((let the games begin…~))

[ask-ivory-periastron]

oh pardon me! I am Ivory Periastron, the one who’s keeping.. or TRYING to keep up the order I have managed to create here! It was quite entertaining watching the fall of your little.. cult… unfortunately I wasn’t able to catch that god awful broker.. (her pristine white, cat-like tail gives a twitch in annoyance at her own comment about Broker, seems like he’s giving her a lot of trouble…)

Why hello Scythe, it’s been a while since I last saw you. For someone as infamous as you, I expected more fire-… at least you fulfilled the promise of not going down easily- oh how’s the cult by the way? If there’s even anything left of it-… (w..what does that.. mean?…)

((If you’re confused about the au I do have a post that leads to the tag on my main blog!!))

"...who in tarnation are ya? And what are ya talkin' 'bout?"

[mrkanman]

a g4 inspired queen opaline arcana. (i added more flame and draconic elements in her design. and made her mane and tale kind of like. smoke.) like many. im not crazy about the g5 cartoon art style, but i also have problems with how they handle its main villain

misc thoughts under the cut

opaline introduces the audience to additional lore about alicorns in the overarching friendship is magic universe, that being that there WERE other alicorns back when luna and celestia were foals, with opaline being as old as the sun and moon princesses.

opaline refers to herself as the embodiment of "flame" but i dont think her og design and personality in the show really. demonstrate that concept very well. they also dont make her act like. actually old. shes more like an evil stepmother than an ancient alicorn.

in g5 she is presented as a cunning manipulator who revels in being evil who believes it is an alicorns inherent right to dominate over equestria. which. you know. ok. but its very generic.

(now. if *i* were lead writer on the show, i would lean into her jealousy of luna and celestia way more, maybe even make her motivation to destroy equestria in order to "ruin their greatest achievement." just destruction out of spite.)

they actually do something really odd in the show because opaline exposits that "everyone loved luna and celestia because they were the sun and moon." when? luna VERY CLEARLY was not as valued by the other ponies? nightmare moon? it was the first episode of the series gen 5 is piggybacking off of?

i also think that the angle of making her an abusive mother figure to the character misty brightdawn was. mhm. idk. the show cant seem to decide if opaline is a fun disney era evil villain we love to hate, or an actual monster we should take seriously.

its a shame, because i think as far as concept and worldbuilding is concerned, she is fascinating.

[loz-break-the-cycle]

The Legend of Zelda: Break the Cycle Masterpost

This is an AU I’ve been working on for a very long while now, and is nothing more than a passion project I work on whenever I feel like it. There’s plenty of lore, ideas, and other things that I’ve stuffed into a google doc, which will mostly be copy-pasted onto here.

The question I plan to answer with this AU is, what happens to the Hero’s Spirit and Hyrule itself after such a long time of being tormented by and endless cycle of reincarnation? What happens when that endless routine is broken? (this is so self indulgent btw omg)

Timeline: Around 80-100,000 years after the events of Tears of the Kingdom.

|~|

Sections to be featured:

Fun Facts

#1, modern day hylians | #2, rainbow propaganda

Main Characters

Link, 5-7 y/o

Side Characters

Dungeons

Mechanics/Worldbuilding

Myths, Legends, and Fables

Hyrule

Maps pt1, the surface | Maps pt2, the depths

Every lore post will be featured under one of these sections, and each post will be linked under their respective titles in as much of an order as I can get them to be in.

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Related Tags: #mod talks - Tag for answering asks or updates. #this cycle ends with us - Tag for fic posting on Ao3(currently there’s nothing posted but I do have a few chapters written!). #break the cycle lore - Tag for lore posting. Expect more tags to get added as time goes on!

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Fanfic Planning: Since this is being turned into a fic, albiet a little slowly, here’s the plans for all of that. Currently there’s plans for at least three parts, two of which have writing done for them and have titles. The first part features the end of the Era of Magic Link(the little freak running this show) from when he draws the Master Sword at five to his last teacher at the tail-end of six years old. Part two features his military years from seven to fourteen(child soldier who. sorry) and his interactions with the royal family and his captain. Part three is his actual journey to make sure the universe isn’t destroyed, or what I would say would be the playable part if this was a game. If there’s a part four, which I’m totally planning for there to be, it’s definitely going to be linked universe/linksmeet adjacent since I’ve actually already worked it into the lore. So if you’re interested in this being a weirdly long multi-part fic, you’re in luck!

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Hope everyone that sees this ends up enjoying this AU as much as I have as I’ve worked on it throughout the months. Enjoy! (o^ ^o)

(lowkey ignore if i accidentally reblog stuff to this blog i didn’t mean to ✧ദ്ദി( ˶^ᗜ^˶ ) )

[azzayofchaos]

your worldbuilding for your dreamingverse au is so good i wish i knew everything about the world you're making. i genuinely could read about it for HOURS

Oh that is so sweet! @solar-cycle And who am I to deny your curiosity (I certainly am happy to rant about Dreamingverse)!

MINECRAFT SPECULATIVE LORE?

(Sorry about the lack of image, I was too excited to post and didn’t have any ideas jump out at me for what to draw… next post maybe lol)

Here’s the fundamentals of the Dreamingverse au:

There was, once, two universes. The first, the one you might be able to imagine, was made of matter, of time and space, and was inhabited by advanced civilizations. The other was pure sapience, a sprawling neuronic network that dreamed in its own pathways. They call it the End Before the Beginning, the cataclysmic collision of universes that split and fragmented and recrystallized into a single many faceted prism. And in the wake of this cataclysm, the civilizations of before collapsed. It wasn’t an immediate thing, but a slow implosion driven out of fear and competition over resources. How were people not meant to be afraid, when the dead were suddenly granted a second waking and the world they knew was ripped apart at the seams? When beings born of pure thought, the manifestations of Death, Destruction, and Oblivion were made to walk among them? Humanity’s downfall was eventually to war and its own nuclear power, and thus began the era of oblivion.

The era of oblivion was marked by the absence of life and the settling of the earth. The newly reborn [universe] was irradiated and barren, made of fractured pockets of tribes and civilizations relearning how to live in their world, now hanging on to their lives with white knuckles. If nothing else, this extreme of living incentivized the rapid evolution of genetics, leading to offshoot species in the descendant of humanity, Piglins, Witches, Endr, and more, among them. These offshoots are widely known as “Hybrids” granted by the universe the qualities of species better suited to their extreme environments.

It is then the Era of Growth and Decay. The plants, as with the undead, are given a sentience of their own, mutated and lively, they are the first to begin recovering from the End, and with them, the deities of these concepts too. Among these plants, Creepers, long, slow-moving creatures of explosive spores, Sculk, Mycelium, Glares, and the Nylium of the Neth.

And in the wake of the plants, the Era of Beasts follow, where animals and their corresponding deities begin to grow bold and awake.

Following at last is the rebirth of civilization. It’s the Neath that takes off first, the early bastions of the Piglin gathering culture and resource in order to begin exploring and inventing, the overworld soon following. And here also, is where the Creators truly emerge. They had existed before in some capacity, sapient beings woven more deeply into the fabric of the universe, able to catch the flitting dreams of the universe and spin it into their own make. Beings with the ability to Construct and Destroy at a scale no Animate could match even with a lifetime of magical and alchemic training. They were revered and despised in often equal measures.

—

Which brings us to the basics of Sapient classifications. To be clear, these lines are not hard or certain, but rather a general categorization.

There are the Animates of course: NPCs essentially (though that feels dismissive) the bulk of the population, living limited lifespans and with little access to magics.

These rest are Creators, broadly speaking:

…

The so called “Players,” generally the children of other Creators, of Animates, or Animates themselves given the powers of Construction and Destruction later in life in one way or another. They tend to be more humanoid, and generally include undead Creators. For along time, they were really the only group of Creator easily accepted by the general population as they were less ‘other.’

Then there are the Fae: objects, plants, or animals that are given the gifts of the universe and higher consciousness alongside it.

And then the Constructs: Places awakened and given thought and the capacity to change and move. Often considered god-like in their own right.

And the Deities. Gods sometimes. Beings made of pure thought, concepts personified.

—

Civilization marched onwards, and Creators did not often die. Empires rose, fell, rose again, and over the course of many great wars and eras of peace —from the War With Heaven, to the Rapture of Empires, to Antarctic’s Conquest— the Universe slowly settled into its Dream and its people into their own.

Ask me about:

- the structure of the universe and the layout of its dimensions…

- Mechanics, this may be bundled in with the structural stuff…

- Character, lore, and series head-cannons (I may or may not have them yet!)

- The Deities

- The Remnants 0.0

- Anything really, maybe I’ll do some art :3

[ask-ivory-periastron]

“We might have to get off air here soon, but we will try to make sure to keep you updated on any changes of our situation!”

“Glad to hear that you’re doing well yourself, how are the others? We.. haven’t seen our own relatives for a long while now-…”

“Some of these anons need an ice blast if we are being perfectly honest- we have heard of bitters, attempted dehorners, apple teeth?? It’s a lot!”

“Hey Icey we just wanted to check in and see how your doing, you aren’t ours but we just wanted to make sure your doing alright!”

“Especially since apparently Ivory has been pretty active..”

“The anons on here can be pretty wild, so please be careful about that!”

“and watch out for Ivory… just in case she ever interacts with you.”

-SIGNED, FS RADIO

[icedagger's phone chimes]

oh? oh! valk and dom! hello you two, i'm well!

sounds like you two arent having the best of times... let me know if i can help at any time, i'd hate to see you two in dire straits... i'll keep my eyes out for her!

hm... i think i can handle myself, too; i'm a deity after all!

[2187s]

𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 : 𝐀 𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊 … i've mentioned before that i feel the sequels as a whole had rushed pacing and very little payoffs in terms of characterization and worldbuilding. the following timeline is my attempt to fix the pacing, add in various lore and headcanons i've accumulated in my time writing finn, expand on various aspects of the worldbuilding and overall provide a stable ground in which interactions can be based off. without further ado — the beginning of my sequels rewrite !

› 𝙿𝚁𝙴𝙲𝙴𝙴𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙰𝙱𝙻𝙸𝚂𝙷𝙴𝙳 𝚂𝙴𝚀𝚄𝙴𝙻𝚂 𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙾𝙽

four bby : brendol hux creates commandment's cadets, a secret society of handpicked infants, all raised to serve one goal : act as stormtroopers. brendol was inspired by the jedi's younglings. this squad, his child, and brendol himself would eventually move to observe the battle of jakku from the field.

one bby : the events of rogue one occur.

— a few empire loyalists recognize that the end of the empire is dawning before them. still loyal to the empire, still driven by the urge to rule, and as part of various contingency plans, they search for a planet beyond the rebel alliance's perspective and end up on jakku. among them are brendol hux, enric pryde and rae sloane. though without a name at the time, this would become the roots of the first order.

zero bby : the battle of yavin occurs. the death star is destroyed by the rebel alliance. it's known as victory day and eventually becomes a galactic-wide recognized holiday.

four aby : the battle of endor results in a ruined empire. the heroes of the galaxy rejoice, they party. all is well in the world. the party rages on for about three weeks, though the generals must balance their celebration with returning to work. leia organa worked closely with mon mothma to help bring stabilization to the galaxy in the form of the rebel alliance morphing into the new republic, a senatorial rule for the galaxy.

— han solo and leia organa are together, and in love. while he does occasionally dip his toes back into smuggling, he is quite busy working for the new republic in exporting goods, cargo, and people — displaced alderaanians, mostly. leia points, he goes. — luke takes time to mourn his father and eventually moves to create a new jedi order. he takes the task very seriously, making sure to read the old jedi texts, learning as much as he can about the previous jedi order and bettering what will become his new temple. luke is cautious, and dedicated to not making the same mistakes his forefathers did. there are several aspects of the old jedi teachings that he ignores : physical and emotional attachments make a jedi stronger, he believes, and anyone can train in the force. — luke begins to train his sister, leia, in the ways of the force as he knows how. she is strong in the force, dedicated, a fast learner, but ultimately does not accept the lightsaber presented for her. she’s pregnant, and knows that her destiny is going to lead her elsewhere. instead, she urges luke to actualize his dreams of a new academy for force sensitives, ushering in a new era of jedi. 

ten aby : luke skywalker settles onto the planet ossus and opens the doors of his new jedi temple. his first class is small, only sixteen force sensitives to his one. their ages all vary, as does their connection to the force. they’re all there by choice, not because of demand. luke looks onto his academy with pride and joy.

twelve aby : the empire loyalists, now tentatively known as the first order, have begun exploring and researching sith legends due to rae sloane’s fanatic impulses. they stumble across readings of an eldritch horror named snoke, perhaps the personification of the dark side of the force itself. his power is mighty, his reach long. aspirations of total rule begin to rise and the order aligns themselves with snoke, intent on awakening this power. 

fifteen aby : ben solo turns ten years old and his manipulation of the force is undeniable. he is strong, with the possibility of being stronger than his uncle luke, even. there is conflict within the boy, flipping moods faster than one can keep up with, an inner turmoil between doing the right thing and listening to his baser instincts. leia sends him to luke, to train. han disagrees, wondering if it wouldn’t be better for the boy to ignore the force overall. 

seventeen aby : the first order, small but determined, have shrunk even further in size. several empire loyalists have been tried and condemned before the new republic, and those who’ve managed to escape legal consequences refute the first order’s attempts at restructure. sloane, hux, pryde, and the few remaining members of the commandment’s cadets remain loyal to their dreams of an empire. their loyalty is rewarded when they find the remnants of snoke. he was in a cryostatic state, and sloane alone understood how to wake the monster. with strict instructions to hux and pryde about the resurrection of the first order, sloane then enacted an ancient dark side ritual — exsanguination of her whole self in order to revive snoke. the ritual worked, to an extent. snoke, the eldritch horror with cosmic collapse for eyes, awoke … though not at his full power.

— snoke was revived as an essence and lacked an actual physical presence, though that hardly seemed to stop the dark being. it’s manipulation of the force allowed him to become a powerful ally for the first order, though it of course demanded total loyalty. hux and pryde readily agreed, both recognizing the power before them was catastrophic. with combined instructions from sloane and their new supreme leader, hux and pryde began working on building the first order’s forces. 

eighteen aby : the first time ben solo heard snoke’s voice in his head was shortly after his thirteenth birthday. the boy would go on to struggle with those whispers for the rest of his life.

nineteen aby : using old contacts, pryde managed to secure sizable funding for the first order from old empire loyalists who were in hiding. it was enough financial support that the first order could relocate from exegol to the planet ilum — which, thanks to project resurrection ( a program in which first order forces would invade various small villages and towns on planets of the outer rim and kidnap infants to train as stormtroopers and officers ), was quickly repurposed and rebuilt into starkiller, the first order’s base of operations and first superweapon, capable of destroying entire star systems.

twenty - five aby : at twenty years old, with the promise of more knowledge and power than luke skywalker could provide, ben solo casted aside the light for dark. pledging himself to supreme leader snoke, the force in the back of his mind all these years, ben solo became kylo, a student of the dark, when he struck his uncle down. the jedi academy was torn apart, ben’s classmates given two choices : join, or die. of the sixteen original students, only five were spared with their lives. the rest died, and that was seemingly the end of luke skywalker’s jedi temple.

— word of the attack traveled fairly fast, though reports varied. the original general consensus was that the academy was attacked, luke and the students died defending their lives. it was only after ben solo, now declaring himself kylo, appeared before his mother on chandrila, during one the new republic senate meetings, and renounced the new republic, spurning it’s aspirations of peace. kylo then attacked the attending members of senate, accompanied by his peers, an ancient group called the knights of ren. leia and most members managed to survive the chaos, as the attack was not organized, but it was enough to unsettle the galaxy. 

twenty - seven aby : kylo and the knights of ren began to make waves across the galaxy as they stormed various planets, intent on hunting force sensitives. once found, the force sensitive was given two choices : join, or die. the knights left destruction and corpses in their wake and the new republic forces had, for the first time since the empire, an enemy to handle. however, as force sensitives around the galaxy were hunted, killed or converted, and with luke skywalker assumed dead ( leia organa refusing to give an affirmative either way ), there was seemingly and distressingly no hope of defeating the crazed dark siders. 

[starg0ld]

Fragmenta Vitae (II)

art creds: drosaxx on twt

Albedo x Lumine

❝ After albedo inevitably loses control, he pays the highest price by killing the person dearest to him. He will try to make amends by making use of his darkest alchemical knowledge. ❞

Cw: death, murder, mourning, obsession, blood, dead body, angst

n/a: It was REALLY hard to envision a possible Neo-Khaenri’ah--- I had to ask for help from CHATgpt chat because worldbuilding and I don’t get along very well-- However, it's still fun to imagine an alternative version of future Teyvat :D. Of course, I want to clarify once again that this story takes place in an AU set after the end of the game canon story. The war ended with Lumine’s death, who had to face Albedo as her final challenge, concluding with her death (poor Aether, he's now sad and alone-) I hope this point is clear enough (feedbacks are much appreciated), anyway, many more characters and lore have to appear yet. BTW!!! Rhinedottir is such an interesting character, I can't wait for her to officially appear in game. I need more Khaenri’ah and its people's lore. I also like to imagine Albedo and Lumine like this in my story: (also see below)

word count: 4473

Teyvat was progressively evolving. After the last great war, nations were getting back on their feet, mainly through mankind aid. Years passed quickly, evolution just as rapid through the succession of generations. The conflict against the Heavenly Principles and the Abyss Order ended in glory, imprinted as one of the most tragic and grandiose events in history, though, of course within a cost; many creatures fell, whole systems were destroyed. Celestia, the ever present force that loomed over Teyvat for centuries, was no longer a forced control in the skies. The shackles imposed by the gods had been broken, and in their absence, humanity seized control of its own destiny. Finally, with the divine rule gone, the world no longer belonged to the heaven's thrones, but to those who roamed the earth.

Khaenri’ah, once the cursed nation led by no deity, raised again, reborn from its own ashes it shone more beautifully and majestically than ever. Now, Neo-Khaenri’ah flourished in this new era, becoming a beacon of innovation, a testament to what a civilization could achieve when unburdened by the interference of higher powers.

Towering spires of brass and steel, adorned with intricate engravings of their lost history. All around were scattered floating platforms powered by etheric energy, defying gravity through advanced machinery, gears and cogs embedded into buildings, constantly turning like the beating heart of the city. Stained glass windows gracefully depicted past legends, illuminated by phosphorescent gas lamps. Walking through its streets seemed to cross another reality entirely. The technological industry was the most advanced in Teyvat, just as it used to be; a blend of alchemical engineering and steam powered innovation, automaton workers with intricate filigree plating, operating complex machinery. Airships and mechanical chariots could be spotted gliding through the sky, their engines humming with a mix of steam and arcane energy. Institutions were instituted “Aetheric Conduits”: massive pipelines running through the city, distributing power to homes, factories, and vehicles, along the “Luminary Core”, a vast central generator, pulsing like a mechanical heart, the key to Neo-Khaenri’ah’s survival.

Khaenri’ah became a meritocratic society, led by the monarchy and its council, established by exponents who rose trough their intellect. Guilds of artificers, inventors, and scholars, each competing to push the boundaries of technology. There was a certain reverence for lost knowledge, with grand libraries housing texts preserved from even before the cataclysm. Progress swept across the land, driven by the minds of those who had long been denied the chance to create freely.

Among them was the Kreideprinz Albedo.

With Celestia’s threats no longer hanging over his head, the former alchemist could finally push the limits of his knowledge without restraint, although aware that every mystical force must have boundaries. The Art of Khemia, once a forbidden and dangerous craft, was now his to explore without fear, along with several other alchemists and scientists who enjoyed playing with reality’s restrictions. Albedo could have become a feared and respectable figure in his new life, after all, he had full faculties on that matter, but the latter rather opted to open a humble alchemical emporium in the new nation of Khaenri'ah. Yet, despite the infinite possibilities before him, his focus remained singular: Lumine.

The mysterious outlander returned to him, yet not entirely. Lumine’s soul was there, but incomplete. Her body was perfect, yet empty of the memories that made her who she once was. Sometimes, looking at her, Albedo saw the woman he madly loved years before, other times, he saw a stranger who was still learning about the world all around them. And still, he fully dedicated himself to her. Under his wing and guidance, Lumine had to learn everything from the beginning: language, culture, even the simplest of concepts, everything was foreign to her. The young girl observed the world with the wide eyed wonder of a child, yet there was something different about her. She was not like an ordinary newborn soul, she learned quickly, her mind grasping ideas at a speed that defied nature, absorbing knowledge as if it had always been within her, merely waiting to be unlocked. Still, the process was slow, but Albedo was patient. He became Lumine’s guide, her mentor, her anchor in a world that should have somehow been familiar but was now entirely unknown. He spoke to her with gentle tones, enunciating words with care, repeating phrases until they took root in her mind. Then, one day, she spoke her first word. It was clumsy, a fusion of syllables that didn’t quite fit together; a muddled attempt at “Master” and “Albedo.” The pronunciation was incorrect, but the intent was clear. Albedo froze, for a moment, he simply stared, as if doubting his own hearing. Then, slowly, his expression softened, his lips parting in a quiet exhale of astonishment. A small, genuine smile ghosted across his face.

“You’re learning.” The blonde man murmured, his voice barely above a breath.

Encouraged from his tender expression, Lumine repeated his name again, slowly, carefully, guiding her tongue toward the correct sounds. Her attempts were hesitant at first, imperfect, but persistent. Every time she spoke, Albedo listened intently, his eyes filled with quiet admiration. It became a game between them, a ritual of sorts where Lumine would try, and Albedo would correct, and no matter how garbled the result, he never expressed frustration. There was no impatience in that kind man, only quiet encouragement and the deep, unspoken warmth of someone who was simply grateful to hear her voice at all. With time, Lumine’s vocabulary expanded. Simple words became full sentences, fragmented thoughts became coherent ideas, and through it all, Albedo remained at her side, watching as his most successful creation rebuilt herself from the pieces of a past she could not recall.

Yet sometimes, in the quiet hours of the night, flickers of that lost life would surface. Memories would come in brief, fleeting bursts, too fast to grasp, too distant to understand. They struck without warning, leaving Lumine disoriented, shaken. And when they did, Albedo was always there, steady, unmovable. He would not let the love of his life fall again, he would be whatever she needed him to be; a teacher, a guardian, a friend. And no matter how long it took, he would not stop until she would've reclaimed what was hers.

Lumine was an endless source of curiosity. Everything fascinated her, every strange instrument in Albedo’s lab, every chemical reaction, the shimmering liquids in glass vials, the intricate symbols etched into his research notes, every scrap of knowledge she could pry from his mind. Even the simple act of speaking was still new to her, and though her words sometimes tumbled out in a peculiar, mismatched way, that young woman was relentless in her questioning.

"Why is this bubbling?"

"What happens if I mix these?"

"Why do you look like that when you think?"

It never ended.

At first, Albedo found her enthusiasm endearing, even oddly amusing, answering her with the patience of a seasoned teacher. But it didn’t take long for him to realize that Lumine’s curiosity was boundless, not just in the things she wished to learn, but in the attention she demanded. When he needed to focus on his experiments, to carefully measure reagents or record delicate results, Lumine was still there, demanding his care. And when she didn’t get it?

That woman hated being ignored. If Albedo ever dared to turn his focus elsewhere, she would make sure to drag it back to her, one way or another. It started with insistent tugging at his sleeve, then persistent questioning, her voice growing louder and more urgent the longer he failed to respond. And when those didn’t work? Then came the destruction; glass shattered, papers scattered, carefully calibrated instruments knocked askew, ink splattered across his carefully recorded notes. Delicate equipment, pieces he had spent weeks, if not months refining suddenly found itself striked to the ground in the wake of her frustration. If he turned his back for too long, Lumine would throw a tantrum, huffing and stomping as if she could will his focus back onto her. And when tantrums alone didn’t work, the mess she brought escalated, spilling liquids, toppling beakers, sometimes even outright grabbing his work and flinging it aside. If denied attention, Lumine didn’t simply sul; she retaliated.

The first few times, Albedo tried to reprimand her, using a pondered authority. His voice had taken on that careful, measured sternness he used when scolding Klee for her reckless explosions, whenever her enthusiasm turned reckless when his younger sister was younger.

"Lumine, you can’t break things just because you want my attention."

But the golden haired woman only glared up at him, her chestnut eyes gleaming with defiance. Then, the next time the alchemist ignored her for too long, she broke something more valuable, as if testing whether his rules truly applied to her or not. That discipline only fueled the rebellion. If he told her not to do something, Lumine would do it twice as much, staring at him defiantly as if daring him to stop her. Eventually, Albedo had to accept a painful truth: Lumine would never change. It became clear, after a handful of ruined experiments, that reprimanding her was a fruitless endeavor. No amount of logical explanation, no carefully worded reasoning about the importance of patience, would ever deter her. No explanation of "This experiment is important, please be patient." would ever stop her. She was a force of nature, one that he simply had to work around. Lumine was not one to wait. She was not one to be ignored. The lab, once an orderly sanctuary of precision, slowly became something else. A disaster zone. Cabinets missing their doors, papers littering the floor, bits of broken glass swept hastily into corners, stacks of notes displaced, fragile instruments set aside where they were less likely to be destroyed, shelves rearranged to keep the most breakable items out of reach. Albedo could only sigh as he salvaged what he could, shaking his head at the wreckage left in her wake.

The wise alchemist had to resort to the same ploy he used with Klee many years earlier: hanging a sign on the door of the workshop while he was working, so Lumine could understand that there was a reason if the door was locked. At first she threw tantrums, screaming like a child, then her tactic became destroying the rest of the house. Albedo, worried that Lumine could even get to the point of hurting herself if left unsupervised for too long, came up with the idea of leaving her some “homework”, something to study and with keeping herself busy while he had to work. Against all his expectations, Lumine was quite intrigued by the topics he assigned her. She tried her best to meet her master's expectations, completing all the work Albedo assigned her. Using this strategy, Lumine learned a lot of valuable information with such incredible speed in a brief amount of time.

Despite all the mess, despite the frustration, there was something almost… endearing about it. Albedo always found himself making allowances for that girl. Despite all her chaos, Lumine listened. Every answer the Kreideprinz gave, every patient explanation about why a chemical changed color, why certain metals conducted energy, why the stars burned in the sky or the mysteries of the constellations, she absorbed it all, like a sponge drinking in water. As much as she craved his attention, Lumine also craved knowledge. Albedo found himself, more often than not, pausing his work to explain things, answering her endless stream of "why's" and "how's," knowing full well that in the moment he'd have stopped, something else would end up broken. Lumine was exhausting,unpredictable, at times infuriating, she was also impossible to ignore. But for all the mess she caused, she always listened.

Despite that funny, somehow warm routine, Albedo never allowed himself peace. His mind, ever restless, was consumed by a singular obsession: restoring Lumine’s memories. He spent countless hours in his lab, eyes scanning over research notes, fingers stained with ink as he scribbled theories and calculations. Every failed attempt only spurred him to push harder, to delve deeper into the mysteries of the Art of Khemia, as if somewhere within its forbidden knowledge lay the key to bringing Lumine back in full to him. His work became his existence, his thoughts endlessly circling the same question: Where had he gone wrong? Lumine was alive, her body was whole, her soul tethered to this world, but she was not the same. The spark that once defined her was dimmed, flickering in and out of reach. Her gaze, though filled with curiosity, lacked recognition. And Albedo, no matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, could not accept it. It was like she wasn't the same person he fell in love with decades ago, but every time he chased away this thought.

The experiments were meticulous, precise, driven by an urgency he could not shake. Potions, rituals, alchemical transmutations, each test carried out with the utmost care, each failure met with gritted teeth and renewed determination. At first, Albedo was careful to shield Lumine from the weight of his desperation. He spoke to her in soft reassurances, masking his exhaustion behind a calm demeanor. But no amount of control could hide the dark circles beneath his teal eyes, the rigid set of his jaw whenever an experiment yielded nothing but silence. Lumine watched him with quiet confusion, sensing the depth of his frustration but not fully understanding it. She would tilt her head, studying him as her master paced the lab, muttering theories under his breath. Occasionally, she would reach out, fingers brushing against his sleeve in a tentative attempt to pull him from his thoughts.

"Why do you look so sad?" She once asked, her voice uncertain, as if she was struggling to grasp the meaning of the question herself.

Albedo had frozen at her words, staring at her as if she had struck him. Then, with a forced smile, he merely shook his head and returned to his work.

It wasn’t just her memories that were missing. The realization crept in slowly, dread settling deep within Albedo’s bones. Lumine’s soul itself was fractured, as if some vital pieces had been left behind, lost in the void between life and death. He had brought her back, but not completely. She was like a mirror that had been shattered and imperfectly pieced together, some fragments forever gone. The weight of it was crushing. His mind refused to accept the possibility that this was irreversible. There had to be a way. There had to be something he hadn’t considered yet. He worked harder, slept less, ate only when his body became exhausted. Even when his hands trembled from exhaustion, even when the ink on his pages blurred from tired eyes, he continued.

But for all his efforts, Lumine remained the same. Despite it all, she sought him out. Even without her memories, without the experiences that had once shaped her, Lumine was drawn to him. When Albedo disappeared into his work for too long, she would come find him. She would sit in the lab, watching him with patient, quiet fascination, or tug at his sleeve when he had gone too long without acknowledging her presence. She did not know why she trusted that man, only that she did, he was all she ever had, her only family. Perhaps, on some level, something in her remembered. Or perhaps it was simply that Albedo, for all his silence and brooding intensity, was a constant, a presence that felt safe. She did not understand the grief in his eyes when he looked at her like that, she did not understand the weight that lonely alchemist carried in his heart. But she stayed by his side nonetheless.

When Rhinedottir, Albedo's mother and creator, discovered what her former apprentice had done, her reaction was anything but simple.

The cryptic alchemist returned to the nation she had lived in for many centuries ago, after the war against the gods ended and Khaenri’ah got as stable as before. Although the relationship between her and Albedo, “her most successful son”, has always been complicated, the two had learned to coexist almost peacefully together. Both were highly respected alchemists in their homeland, each working on their own projects, though often combining their miraculous faculties. Rhinedottir saw Albedo as a man now, he learned a great deal from her teachings and became an alchemist in her own wake. Despite Rhinedottir being as cold as ever, she was more than satisfied with how far her best creation had come. Albedo, who had always longed to be reunited with her, learned to acknowledge his master's mistakes, without ignoring that this woman was the closest family he could ever have. The homunculus was silently grateful for his creator eventually coming back, and while her attitude was as icy as ever, something changed. Rhinedottir knew how to show that she was still a mother, even if in her own way.

Despite being aware of the witch's vast knowledge, Albedo had always kept his greatest plan a secret from her, even though she herself could have been able to help him with her wealthy skills. But he couldn't imagine her fury when she’d found out, after all, there was a part of him that still feared her reaction and judgment, however inevitable.

But now the woman stood just before him, in the middle of his lab. Eyes narrowed, her presence as imposing as ever. The silence between them stretched thick with tension. When Rhinedottir finally spoke, her voice was laced with both disapproval and something more, something contemplative. "You used the Art of Khemia… to create life. Without my knowledge. Without my guidance." Shock and fury battled for dominance in her expression, yet beneath the surface, a more subtle emotion flickered, one that Albedo recognized all too well. A hint of pride, the same rare light that rarely manifested back in the days when he was still an apprentice seeking alchemy mentorship, when he was still learning about the world in the early years of his long existence. Rhinedottir's words were measured, but there was no mistaking the sharp edge to them. The Kreideprinz had expected her anger, and he was not disappointed. The older alchemist continued, stepping forward, her gaze scrutinizing her child like one of her unfinished experiments, a feeling that Albedo already knew too well. "Do you even understand what you’ve done? Do you understand the consequences you may have unleashed?"

Albedo, ever composed, stood his ground. He did not flinch under her scrutiny, though he could feel the weight of it pressing down on him. Of course he had already anticipated this reaction. "I understand perfectly," The man replied evenly, though a part of him wondered if he truly did. "I took every precaution-"

"Precaution?" Rhinedottir’s scoff was bitter. "You dare speak of precautions when you tamper with the fundamental laws of existence? I taught you to be cautious, to understand the seriousness of the Art of Khemia, and yet you…" She exhaled sharply, shaking her head, her voice no less serious. She was furious. Yes, Albedo knew she would be, but there was something else in her gaze. Beneath the indignation, beneath the rebuke, was a glimmer of something almost… admiring. "You wielded it with reckless abandon. You ignored the risks. You defied discipline, and for what? Love? Grief?"

Albedo’s hands clenched at his sides. He had nothing to say to that. No words that would make her understand. But she already did. Rhinedottir studied her perfect creation for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Then, slowly, her lips curled, not quite into a smile, but into something close.

"Impressive…" The woman murmured, almost to herself, while watching the other homunculi in the room next Albdo’s lab, from the crack in the door she could glimpse Lumine dancing with a broom, humming a playful tune to herself as she was immersed in her little world. That sentence sent a shiver through Albedo. It was not a compliment, not exactly. It was an acknowledgment, a grudging respect for the audacity of what he had done, for the skill it required. But the moment passed, and her expression hardened once more.

"Listen to me, Albedo." Rhinedottir’s tone was firm, brooking no argument. "You will take responsibility for what you have created. This is not an experiment you can discard when it becomes inconvenient." Sounded almost hilarious, said by her, the same woman who had abandoned him, as well as her other “failed” experiments. But albedo did not dare to protest about it.

The younger alchemist bristled at her implication. "I never intended-"

"Ensure that Lumine is safe." Rhinedottir interrupted. "That she is stable, that she does not become… something beyond your control." The implications of those words were clear, after all, they both were homunculi. It was a brilliant paradox; an artificial being created by another artificial being, a synthetic life generated by another synthetic one. A snake biting its own tail.

Albedo met her gaze, his resolve unwavering. "I will."

A beat of silence passed between mother and son, heavy with unspoken words, but clear as if they had been shouted. Then, with a final glance at him, in one last, lingering moment of scrutiny, Rhinedottir turned away.

"See that you do." She warned, and just like that, the woman made it clear that their conversation was over. Albedo lowered his head slightly, not daring to twist the finger in the wound any further.

Before leaving the alchemist's emporium, Rhine stood in front of Lumine, deeply staring into her golden eyes as the girl returned the glare with puzzled look, only able to produce a confused sound back. For a moment, albeit very brief, Rhinedottir's eyes softened before lending a hand on Lumine’s shoulder. Perhaps for a moment the alchemist Gold remembered something, although distant. Then she turned away, enveloped in her icy aura as ever as the sound of her heels followed her out of the door.

Albedo kept standing there for a little more after his master had left, his thoughts a whirlwind of guilt, defiance, and something else. He couldn't help but think about that look, somehow... proud? He had never seen her like that in his entire life. Something that felt an awful lot like vindication.

Once they were both alone Lumine approached her teacher with uneven steps, her voice carrying a peculiar lilt as she spoke. "AU-be-do!" The girl enunciated in a funny, exaggerated way. "Who was that odd person who just passed by?"

Albedo turned toward her, an amused yet still shaken expression crossing his face. He recognized that she was referring to Rhinedottir, but for a brief moment he hesitated. How could he explain her in a way that Lumine would understand? The alchemist studied her face, innocent yet inquisitive, her wide eyes filled with curiosity rather than wariness. With a small sigh, he finally answered. "That woman… is someone very important to me. Her name is Rhinedottir, and she's the one who created me."

Lumine blinked, tilting her head as she processed his words. "Important…" She hummed back, repeating the word as if tasting it on her tongue, though the sentence remained incomplete in her mind.

Albedo nodded, a faint smile tugging at his lips at her attempt to grasp the concept. "Yes, important." He clarified gently. "She's my creator, and she taught me many things." For a moment, Albedo considered how much he should tell her. Lumine was technically still mentally young, how much of his past, of Rhinedottir’s role, could she truly comprehend?

Lumine’s expression remained thoughtful as she repeated his words, albeit with a furrowed brow. "She created you…" Her small fingers fiddled with the hem of her skirt before looking up again. "Then… Why was she angry?"

There it was. The question Albedo had been dreading. She was referring to Rhinedottir’s earlier fury, the way her sharp words had lashed at him like a whip, it was obvious that from the other room Lumine had heard something, after all, she wasn’t any fool. The blonde man let out a slow breath, trying to choose his words carefully. "It’s… complicated." His voice waw measured. "My master was angry because she was worried about me. She didn’t want me to do certain things because they could be dangerous…"

Lumine’s frown deepened, confusion flickering across her features. Albedo hesitated before bringing himself closer to her. "She’s just… protective, I suppose. The way a mother would be angry if her child did something reckless."

For a few moments, the younger homunculi remained silent, processing his words, when she spoke her voice was serious. "And what did you do wrong? Do I have to be angry too?"

Albedo let out a small laugh at her question, shaking his head. There was something both endearing and worrisome about her directness. His hand reached out, fingers ruffling through her hair in a familiar, affectionate gesture. Lumine, for once, didn’t push him away. "No, no, you don’t have to be angry… " He reassured her, his tone gentle. "I did something I shouldn’t have, and that’s why she was upset. But you haven’t done anything wrong, my dear. Don’t worry, alright?" Albedo's voice was softer now. "Just focus on learning and growing."

Lumine nodded solemnly, as if absorbing his words like a sacred promise. Then, with a shift in mood, she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Would you give me a hand with that book you gave me to read?"

Albedo’s smile widened at the request. It pleased him to see her so eager to learn. "Of course, my dear." The Kreideprinz replied, settling beside her. "I’d be glad to help. What part are you having trouble with?"

The blonde girl wasted no time in opening the book, pointing to a paragraph that had given her trouble. As Albedo guided her through the sentences, correcting her pronunciation and explaining the meanings of unfamiliar words, a sense of normalcy returned, if only briefly. He forced himself to focus on the present, to be patient as Lumine stumbled through her reading. But beneath his calm exterior, his thoughts remained tangled. The turmoil in his heart had not disappeared. Even as he sat beside his most sacred treasure, helping that innocent girl navigate the words on the page, his mind swirled with the weight of Rhinedottir’s anger, the burden of his own decisions, and the uncertainty that loomed ahead. The older alchemist's fingers tensed slightly over the edge of the book. He had told Lumine not to worry, but he knew, deep down, that things would not remain this peaceful forever.

If only Lumine could have known.

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