#//here we go again...With Silver in a theory.

[psychicxhearts-blog1]

Just noticed this....

Another Silver Theory. Same as other post. Spoilers for chapter 7 of Twisted wonderland and other things about the game. Don’t want spoilers then don’t read. It’s about your BOI SILVER! Again and my god I need to stop going back to Silver and Ace on theories. But I notice something today. But y’all for real I need to know if you noticed this too...Right right here-

....Is that a big bird feeding a baby bird?

...OH! LOOK IT IS! Wait...Wait wait. Dose that mean the ring has things around it to connect to more of the ring? If so thinking more about it, then dose that mean the ring might tell a story around it, but mostly about Silver’s future, and his parents would know what would happen to silver once they left him in the woods? Which would connect to why Lilia took him in. Here me out here I have something crazy to support this on why I believe this.

Think about it. A baby bird is being feed by a bigger bird, and we know a big bird in a sense. Lilia. Why Lilia? Well with out stating every little fact we know about him. Some things to take note of. He might be based on Maleficent’s bird, Diablo. Diablo has pink around his eyes that could connect to his eye color and hair, but for more facts he was also attacked first by the pink magic from the animated Cinderella movie, and then blue. Lilia also raised Silver so there is that too.

Which leads to Silver being the baby bird. Why do I think this? Well Silver is connected to Aurora if the ring that looks like her crown is anything to go on. As well as both animals being drawn to them, and the animals in the animated movie also being on both his birthday and first SR Groovy. Yes other animals as well, but let’s focus on the little birds real quick. We also know that Silver has some messenger bird that comes to his door form time to time that he takes care of as well, but sadly I forgot which card has this information. If anyone knows I will update it with that information. But lets think about his first birthday card. (Something I seem to do a lot I notice.) But Silver’s B-day card has two birds on it. All small birds too. So him being a small bird in the ring being raised by a big bird aka, Lilia dose hold some water.

If so then dose that mean the ring shows what is going to happen in the rest of chapter 7 or the future of the game? It would also explain why Lilia didn’t give it to Silver until now. Yes, I know Lilia said he forgot because of his old age making it where his memory is not what it used to be, but maybe it was also cause of the story could have been spoiled to us if Silver got it the moment he became a first year. Reminder he is a second year. The first years are: Sebek, Ace, Deuce, Epel, Jack, Grim, and Yuu (you the player) in case you forgot. So if Silver had it Year one you know he would have wanted to know what the ring means. I mean he came to the Ramshackle dorm and Mickey saw him! What ever he knows now and what ever is on the ring I think Silver might know a lot more after a while. So he might play a bigger role or we might finally get some answers. Well the ones I want answered mostly -Why is Kailm, Rook, and Rook light users? Dose it mean the theory of them shouldn’t be apart of NRC but RSA like everyone thinks? -Which also connects to why Leona has in his room three white chest pieces in his room. What dose it even mean? the three connecting to Rook being Rook due to his name, Silver being the horse aka the knight, and Kailm being the king since he is royalty in a sense. The last one is weird and need to talk about it. Kailm says he is sultan, which translates to king or ruler. He says he isn’t a future king, and makes me wonder if he means he is not the king of humans, since who ever is might be the true king. Like how Malleus is the king of the fea, Rielle is future king of the merfolk, and Cheka is the king of Beastmen. We have no idea who the king of humans are, and I can’t wait for that answer. -Why was the Ramshackle built then forgotten about? -Why is Yuu in this world when the last person to be summoned was 100 years ago? There is more, but you get my point. I just wanted to share with you what I noticed about the ring and what I thought. Sorry for just saying a lot of info at the end there, but these are things I do want answered soon. As well as to know where the story goes once chapter 7 is done. What is next after that? Hope you enjoyed my theory about the ring. I could be seeing nothing, but still wanted to share. See you all next time and I hope to god it’s not another Ace or Silver theory, cause I know you are sick of them by now. XD

[redstarwriting]

the clash | i. hey, ho! let’s go!

hobie brown x goth!reader

word count: 1.1k

genre: enemies to lovers

warnings: language, insults, hobie hating you, you hating hobie

a/n: it’s here 😎 no but fr, i proudly present a new series focusing on hobie brown, loml. i‘m trying to make it gn, so if you spot anything that needs fixing lemme know. i also did include a bit of a description of what you look like, but it’s mainly just to affirm the gothic spider-person look. and if you don’t like it, you can just pretend it isn’t there, my character designer brain just took a hold while explaining lol. enjoy y’all, there’s more where this came from 👀

now reading: i. hey, ho! let’s go!

next chapter: ii. time bomb

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In theory, the two of you should have been great friends. Best friends, even. He’s called Spider-Punk, and you’re called Spider-Goth, this alone made Miguel assume the two of you would get along better than all of the Peters. Unfortunately for Miguel, he was dead wrong. It was fine at first, a good introduction. “Spider-Punk, meet Spider-Goth,” Miguel says, motioning to the two of you. You simultaneously turn your heads towards him, “Don’t call me that.” You look at each other, seemingly sizing each other up after speaking the same words at the same time. In reality, the two of you were checking each other out, but no one needs to know that. “Fine. Hobie, meet (Y/n). (Y/n), meet Hobie,” Miguel says as Peter B. Parker hops next to him, excited to see the two of you interact. Your gaze first fell on his many piercings, which suited him very well. Almost as well as the spikes coming out of the shoulders of his tattered denim vest. “See somethin’ you like?” you hear his thick cockney accent, and you shrug. “The constant changing makes it difficult,” you say, causing him to shrug. “I hate consistency,” he says, staring you up and down. “I like the guitar,” you say, and he nods. “Everyone does.” You raise an eyebrow, and he takes in the way your heavy black eyeliner makes the expression look more exaggerated than it is. His eyes go down, taking in your outfit, which seems to be varying in different gothic styles, but overall is all black with silver studs, spikes, and charms sticking out everywhere. He notices the two of you share a liking for combat boots, and perhaps his favorite thing about you are the intricate and all black spider-web tattoos on your hands crawling their way up your arms. Hobie clicks his tongue. “Goth, eh?”

“Yeah. Is that a problem with you or something?”

“Feisty for a goth.”

“Instigative as all punks are.”

“What… is going on,’ Peter whispers to Miguel who shakes his head. “I thought they would be best friends?” Peter suggests as he places a binky in Mayday’s mouth. “I did too…” Miguel says, “Maybe this is just a way these types of alternative people talk?”

“Tal vez tengas razón… Hobie does love to be abrasive for no reason,” Miguel concludes, and Peter shrugs and they zone in on the two of you again. “...I don’t suppose there’s no reason we shouldn’t get along,” Hobie suggests, raising an eyebrow at you. “I agree. We probably think similar things… for the most part.”

“For the most part, huh?”

“Just that we have similar ideas, but most likely not the same,” you respond, and he crosses his arms, his guitar moving loosely behind his back. “Opinions on anarchy. Go.”

“It’s the ideal society—”

“Good start—”

“But completely unrealistic.”

“Excuse me?” Hobie looks at you with a glowering expression. “Humans are inherently assholes. Selfish, shitty, assholes. As amazing as it would be to have anarchy running rampant,” you shrug, “It’s unlikely it will ever happen.”

“You can’t actually believe that,” Hobie says, exasperated, “I mean you actually think that we can’t achieve it? You get enough people angry, and they rebel, they push for anarchy. I’ve seen it happen; I’ve led a rebellion.” You roll your eyes. “And do you live in a perfect anarchical society now?”

“Not yet, but we’re gettin’ there,” he clenches his teeth, and you sigh. “I admire your blatant idiocy disguised as an ambitious dream,” you say, and he huffs. “Would you just talk like a normal fuckin’ person and stop usin’ these dumbass words and shitty poetic language?”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, or are you as deaf as your ideologies?” This time you scoff. “I don’t have the time to be berated by someone who lives in their own delusions to try and feel the slightest bit less angry at the world for giving him the shitty cards he was dealt.”

“And I don’t have time to listen to the rubbish ramblings of a miserable twat who digs desperately into their black hole of a heart to try and feel somethin’ when the truth is they don’t even know what they stand for,” he fires back. You glare at him. He glares at you. As if on cue you both flip each other off before you web away. Peter’s voice cuts through the silence.

“Well, that went horribly!”

Miguel punches him on the shoulder, resulting in a soft ‘ow’ and a tiny angry noise from Mayday. “What the hell was that Hobart?” Miguel nearly yells and Hobie snaps his head towards him. “Don’t call me that, neither! They don’t get it. It’s not enough to want to make a difference in the world. You need to take action. Goths love to sit on the sidelines and lament instead of playing the offensive,” Hobie explains, a deep frown on his face, “Watch out for them. They might not be able to do what it takes when it counts.” Miguel sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Hobie, you’re supposed to show them around—”

“No, fuck that. I’m not goin’ anywhere near that gothic monstrosity,” Hobie says shaking his head in defiance. “We made a deal. You would show all the younger spider—”

“Yeah, well you can shove that deal up your fuckin’ ass, mate, I’m not doin’ shit for them!”

“Okay, okay, calm down there, man. Why don’t you just ask Gwen to help you? Maybe Miles and Pavitr too? That way you fulfill your promise, 'cause I know promises are important to you, and you won’t have to talk to them!” Peter reasons and Hobie looks over at him. He furrows his eyebrows. That would help the situation. And maybe he’d be able to help you see just how garbage your take was with Gwen on his side. “Fine. But I’m not doin’ it cause I need help, and I’m not doin’ it because you told me to. I’m doin’ it cause it’s the last thing that they’d want,” Hobie says, pointing at Peter while saying it, flipping Miguel off, and then webbing away. Peter looks at Miguel who is clenching his fists… and his jaw. “You seem stressed, but don’t worry about it. Not all of us need to like each other, I mean there’s so many there’s no possible way we all could and look at you, you hate Miles even though he’s awesome and—”

“Shut. Up. Peter,” Miguel growls, stalking away while mumbling various things in Spanish. Peter looks down at Mayday. “Tough crowd,” he says as she giggles up at him.

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『 tag list 』

@casmosmoon* @khaleesihavilliard @sparklyphantom​ @weyrrii* 

*if you are italicized - i am unable to tag you for whatever reason, feel free to reach out and see if we can fix the issue

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Seeing that Epel and Rook used their unique magic, it makes me think everyone is gonna use their unique magic. Like imagine Kalim using his magic against his enemies or Jade use shock the heart for answers. Imagine reaching to Heartslabyul where everyone but Ace use it. This makes me think of Ace since he is a mysterious character and unclear motivation compare to the rest. What will be his dream? Will his unique magic be shown?

That’s true! Looking back, every character that is now “awake” has used their UM at least once:

Malleus uses Fae of Maleficence/Fae Maleficence to 7-37; this is the source of all our troubles in book 7 💀

Silver uses Meet in a Dream in 7-51, then again multiple times to dream hop and to wake up various students.

Lilia’s Far Cry Cradle is revealed in 7-81’s battle map via a flashback sequence. It is thanks to his UM that he understands the origins of the lone infant he finds in the ruins of Castle Wildrose. He blesses the baby and takes it under his wing as his own son… Silver.

Sebek’s Living Bolt, shown in 7-84, allows him to reach Silver and pull him out of the darkness that has swallowed him.

Idia uses Gate to (the) Underworld to open the gates to Tartarus and escape it in 7-114.

Book 7 confirms that Ortho is not capable of a UM, but is is his uniquely robotic ability to transfer his consciousness that allows him to adopt his Cerberus Gear in 7-50, infiltrate Sage’s Island, and return with valuable information to combat Malleus.

The magical glass coffin that Epel conjures with Sleep Kiss/Crimson Slumber in 7-135 protects Neige. It also (theoretically) slows the effects of Vil’s curse (the poisoned apple juice).

Rook uses I See You in 7-135 to tag Vil (who is sinking into the darkness of his dreams). This makes it easier for the gang to locate where Vil has gone.

Finally, in 7-138, Vil’s Fairest One of All allows him to poison Neige (who, up until this point, has been keeping tabs on him and preventing him from escaping the grasp of the dream) and rejoin with Yuu and co.

I guess since this is such a climactic book, the devs decided to go all out and have each boy show up and show off their own special power. This means we’ll most likely see the rest of the main NRC students using their UMs to help us out in the dreams! (Sasuga power of friendship…)

As for Ace! Now would be such an opportune time for him to develop his UM 😳 I believe the popular fan theory is still “Ace’s UM will allow him to copy others’ magic” since he mimics voices well and has a talent for quickly learning new skills (like dancing, as seen in book 5). And hey, if that’s the case then maybe Ace is the one who will be able to reverse Malleus’s magic if Malleus won’t willingly do it himself. Just spitballin’ here. Maybe Ace is frustrated that he can’t contribute in any way…? And then that feeling manifests as something?

How poetically ironic—the first student we meet ends up being the last to get their UM but also one of the final pieces of the puzzle to take OB Malleus down. It works out really well for Ace’s character too; he is the only character of the main cast who sees through the bullshit and calls people out, not caring about how influential or powerful they are.

I don’t actually think he’s that mysterious relative to other characters—we still barely know anything significant about Rook or Jade, for example (despite already diving into Rook’s dream). Rather, I think it’s more accurate to say that Ace has more simple desires. He just wants to be able to do what he wants when he wants, to not have to worry about his future plans. I don’t think his dream would really be anything that drastic; I see it as Ace living a chill life with his friends.

[luveline]

Anything with Zombie apocalypse! Peter Parker, like how Peter and reader survive or how they met each other just Anything please

Shuffling, a tired groan. Dragging footsteps. A body drops down next to yours. 

"Hello," he says. "Can't you sit somewhere normal?" 

"Hi, Pete." You point down at the group of your survivors. "She's the one who stole my camera. I know it." 

"What's your evidence?" 

Peter brings a knee up to tuck the bottom of his pants into his socks. It helps stay warm in the cold, as does tucking your shirts in, even if it makes for ugly outfits. You pluck a leaf from his unruly hair. "She was– you know how when someone asks you about something and you know you didn't do it but you try not to sound guilty anyways? She was the only one who stayed casual when I asked." 

"So you think she's guilty because she sounded not guilty?" 

You shake your head in defeat. It's a stupid theory, but it's true. She one hundred percent stole your camera because she's a klepto. "It didn't even have any battery left. She just stole it 'cos she knows it's special to me." 

"Maybe you lost it." He unzips his coat and digs through the front pocket. "Left it behind." 

"I wouldn't have," you sigh. "Trust me. It's the one thing I wouldn't forget." 

Peter pulls a lump from his pocket and offers it to you. "Wouldn't be this, would it?" 

Your camera is small and silver in his hands. It looks foreign. The world grows greener by the day as plant life encroaches the streets and skyscrapers shatter in the bad weather. Technology is everywhere but useless, discarded, cars burned to shells and cell phones dropped useless in gutters and eaves. Your camera doesn't work anymore, powered by eight double AA batteries that are impossible to find out here. 

You take it eagerly, a laugh sneaking out and echoing loud enough to make the others camping down look up at you where you're sitting. "Be careful!" Macy calls. 

"Where did you–?" you ask, shocked.

"It's not classy, but I went through her stuff. After you went to sleep last night I asked around and she was being too calm." 

"I knew it," you say, hugging the camera to your chest. There are photos on here you don't want to lose. One day, when you find batteries, or even luckier a computer that works, you'll get to see them again. "Peter, you don't know what this means to me." 

"It means everything, right?" he asks with a shrug. 

You put it down gently and offer your arms to him. He moves in quickly, almost laughably quickly, but his hug is light and breezy. "I didn't do it for you, I'm all about justice," he says. 

"Yeah?" 

"For sure. The people need a vigilante, right? Now more than ever." 

You kiss his cheek. "You're my hero, Parker." 

"Hey, kids!" someone calls, "Get down here!" 

"I'm twenty one!" Peter shouts back. 

"Come on! We need to go before it gets dark." 

When it's dark, bad things happen. The mutes come out to play. Peter gives your shoulder a last rub before he stands, and together you climb down the crumbling metal steps down to the streets again. "What happens when she notices the camera's gone?" you murmur to him. 

"She didn't have it," Peter says, hand ghosting the small of your back, "so she can't lose it. Right?" 

You offer him a private smile. "Right." 

[anthurak]

Okay, so here’s a Salem theory I’ve recently come up with that ties into an aspect of her character that I feel has been largely under-explored:

The fact that in many respects, Salem is all too similar to RUBY.

As I’ve stated in the past in other posts, there are some very interesting similarities that can be drawn between Ruby and Salem. To the point where I think we can consider Salem to be Ruby’s true ‘evil-counterpart’ in the story. Particularly ever since the ‘Girl in the Tower’ episode of Fairy Tales of Remnant.

The Girl in the Tower showed that Salem ALSO had a great love for stories as a child, just like Ruby. And across the show, we have shown Ruby develop a number of traits and abilities much like what we have seen from Salem.

Both have built a select group of close and loyal allies, and in recent volumes, Ruby has displayed a growing talent in manipulating her enemies to gain advantage over them just like Salem. And as of the Volume 9 epilogue and Beyond, we are seeing Ruby rallying the entire world against Salem, just like Salem once did against the gods.

Heck, Ruby likely has her own equivalent to Ozma in PENNY, as recent volumes have emphasized more and more. A great warrior in green touched by magic who is tragically taken from Ruby, only to be brought back and then taken from her again.

There are even notable similarities in their physical abilities: Ruby’s Silver Eyes seem to be a power drawn from the God of Light, just like Salem’s immortality. And as I’ve theorized in other posts, recent revelations about Ruby’s semblance might mean that Ruby could potentially be just as unkillable as Salem.

It all feels like something that could very naturally build to a classic “We are not so different, you and I…” twist and exchange between Ruby and Salem.

Ultimately, I think a/the big twist and reveal about Salem that we’re eventually going to get is that she is a fallen hero. And more specifically, that she represents a fallen RUBY.

Let’s consider for a moment that we have every reason to view Jinn as an unreliable narrator when it comes to her vision in Volume 6.

And when we start looking at Jinn’s vision with the knowledge that it is almost certainly both HEAVILY skewed in favor of the God of Light and meant to paint Salem in as UNFAVORABLE light as possible, then I think we can get a much better picture of Salem in the old world.

Again, I think that the biggest and yet most natural and logical narrative twist we could see here is a big reveal that Salem was in fact absolutely a HERO, and more specifically was essentially the RUBY of her time: She united the whole world, just like Ruby is doing. All to lead humanity against a terrible threat, just like Ruby is doing.

And Salem ultimately FAILED.

Salem was able to unite humanity and lead them against the gods, only for it to all go terribly wrong. When the gods (likely Light, given both the unreliable nature of Jinn’s narration and what we learned from the Blacksmith) wiped humanity out and left Salem alive as a ‘punishment’ for her ‘insolence’ for rising up against them.

Thus does Salem represent a dark and tragic look at a Ruby who ultimately failed. And was so completely and utterly BROKEN as a result that she has eventually become twisted into a terrible villain.

And the really cool thing is; if we start looking at Salem as essentially representing a broken, fallen Ruby who has become a villain, I think this could give us an avenue to guessing just what Salem’s REAL goals truly are.

Because what might a fallen, twisted, villainous Ruby who failed to save humanity actually WANT?

Well, what if Salem actually wants to bring Old Humanity BACK?

As in, undo the destruction wrought by the gods and REMAKE her old world. And more specifically, undo her great FAILURE.

Unfortunately, Salem also views the PRESENT humanity/faunus as nothing but regrettable collateral damage or possibly even necessary sacrifices to her plan. Or just as ‘pretenders’ who are in her way.

Thus does Salem possess what seems to be a noble goal to her, yet has led her to becoming all too similar to the gods she once stood against.

And I think we can already find a couple potential hints to this. Like how in Jinn’s vision, we see that Salem at first simply wanted to rule over the ‘present’ age of humanity, and how she was overjoyed at learning that her and Oz’s children inherited their magic.

But then Oz told her about the relics, and Salem started getting IDEAS.

What if the REAL reason that Salem is after the relics is because she sees them as a way to bring back the humanity that was lost? Her humanity.

This could even give us an answer as to what Salem intends to do about the gods:

After all, Salem wouldn’t just be resurrecting just any humanity, she’d be bringing back the humanity that she united behind her. All the loyal friends, allies and followers who followed her into battle against the gods.

What if Salem intends to finish what they started?

And as to how Salem intends to prevent a repeat of what happened last time?

Well perhaps that’s what all of Salem’s hybrid experiments are for. I mean, a combination of the powers of Light in the Silver Eyes and Dark in the Grimm? What if Salem trying to figure out how to use the Brothers’ powers AGAINST them?

All in all, I feel like Salem turning out to represent a ‘Fallen Ruby’ presents a very natural way to tie together all the parallels we’ve already seen between Ruby and Salem, while also just being a great twist.

Like it’s one thing for our big villain to have some general similarities to our main heroine. It’s a whole other deal for it to turn out that at one time, this big villain was in fact JUST LIKE our main heroine. Driven by all-too-similar heroic who sought to save the world from some seemingly all-powerful threat. And showing just how our heroine could become the very thing she is fighting so hard against.

Such a twist and reveal would hit seriously hard for Ruby and co, and really solidify Salem as Ruby’s final narrative foil and true evil-counterpart. Summer showed how Ruby’s self-destructive hero-complex could ultimately break her.

Salem shows how Ruby could become all too similar to the very thing she was fighting against.

[irisintheafterglow]

like we’re made of starlight (timeskip!iwa x you)

summary: on the night of your birthday, you accompany hajime to the olympic team's new year's celebration, meeting the players and receiving a small surprise.

wc: 1.78k

cw/tags: swearing, alcohol and drinking, established relationship, crack and fluff and atsumu being dumb, one (1) down bad iwaizumi hajime, implied fem!reader but they/them pronouns used

note: this is dedicated to the #1 iwa lover @shotorus <3 i hope you have a spectacular birthday and enjoy this little thing for you and your man :))

likes, reblogs, and replies are appreciated !

“You know, if I’d known they planned this whole shabang on your birthday, I would have asked them to reschedule.” He squints skeptically at the colorful strobe lights shining outside of the club, one of the most prestigious in the city and the venue for the Olympic team’s belated New Year celebration. You could only imagine how loud the inside of the club would be, especially since it already seemed overwhelming outside and you weren’t even in the building yet. “I promise I’ll make it up to you this weekend, something a little…quieter.” 

“It’s okay, really,” you reassure him, setting a comforting hand on his thigh as he continues to bounce his leg in the driver’s seat. You run your thumb over the expensive fabric of his dress pants and he visibly relaxes, releasing a deep exhale and giving you an apologetic smile. The line for the valet was long and your boyfriend had politely declined your suggestion for him to hop out while you get the car situated. “I’m here for you and to meet the guys.” 

“That’s also something I’m a little anxious about,” he admits.

“How so?”

“They can get a little wild at these kinds of celebrations.”

“Well, we can bail whenever we want, right?” He nods, still a little unsure. “So, if the vibe is off or people start getting a little too wild, we leave and eat soup on the couch with a movie on.” The last comment about lounging around finally makes him smile and you lean over to press a light kiss on the side of his face, taking note of the way his ears become a little pinker even in the darkness of his car. A few minutes later, Hajime helps you step out of the car, tug on your coat and leads you to the entrance of the club, bypassing the extensive line with a tilt of his head to the bouncer. 

“This place was 100% Bokuto’s idea,” he mutters when you both step inside. “It’s like we’re at a frat party again.” A club employee escorts you up the stairs to a private, second floor balcony that overlooks the dance floor. “All the lights and music and drunk people is very reminiscent of that one during–”

“During junior year, second semester. The one I dragged you out of your dorm for because my roommates flaked out and I didn’t know anyone else to go with,” you grin, looking down at him over your shoulder as you climb the stairs. He’s quick to close any remaining space between you two once you reach the landing, snaking a protective arm around your shoulders while the employee gestures for you to join the rest of Hajime’s coworkers. “Except this time, everyone’s of age to drink.”

“In theory,” he murmurs. “I still think Hinata’s younger than he says he is.” You stifle a snort into your fist and catch him smirking before you’re bombarded by several suit-clad athletes with varying levels of alcohol intoxication. “Watch out for Atsumu. He spit-talks when he’s drunk.”

“Our beloved trainer has arrived!” On cue, the more chaotic Miya twin appears in front of you with one arm slung around his Jackal teammate, a buzzed-looking Bokuto, and followed closely by Hinata and Sakusa. “What took you so long?”

“I couldn’t find my good cufflinks,” he shrugs, revealing the silver volleyballs hiding on the inside of his wrists, the ones you got him on his first anniversary of working as a trainer. “Thought they were appropriate for the occasion.” You smile, watching your boyfriend act as cool and casual as ever, even in the face of his very enthusiastic colleagues. “I, uh, have someone for you all to meet,” he says, glancing at you with a questioning glint in his eye. Are you ready? You nod, taking a deep breath as he introduces you as his partner. 

“Like, in business?” Atsumu asks with such a genuine expression that makes you giggle. Behind him, you can see Sakusa slap an exasperated palm against his forehead. “You have a secret side hustle?” You bite your lip to keep from laughing too hard and look up to find your boyfriend with a similar expression. 

“No, dude,” Bokuto says slowly. “He means like, romantically. Like, a life partner.” Atsumu’s eyes widened to the size of car tires. “A partner for life, you know?” 

“Holy shit, you’re married?” You catch Sakusa mouth oh my god under his breath before he walks away from his dumbfounded teammate. Hinata is quick to steer both of his friends to a table before they fall over and rejoins the conversation as Hajime introduces you to the more collected players of the group. 

You shake hands with the stoic skyscraper that is Ushijima as well as receive a warm hug from Komori. Both note how great it was to finally meet you in person after your boyfriend seemed to never stop talking about you, before the man in question hurriedly introduces you to another player. Suna and Sakusa are quietly polite but open up more once you ask them about how training is going for the next Olympic games. While you chat with them, Hajime pulls over Aran and Yaku, introducing you as his partner with poorly hidden pride. Once they’ve assimilated into your conversation, he disappears into the herds of players and staff again to no doubt drag out another coworker.

“Forgive him for coming and going so much,” Yaku says apologetically. “I think he’s been waiting to show you off for a long time, even if he won’t admit it.”

“He’s really excited for people to meet me, huh?”

“I’ve never seen him this hyper and I’ve been drunk at a karaoke bar with him,” a new voice says who introduces himself as Kuroo, a tall guy with spiky hair that you remember Hajime arguing with over the phone several times. “Our offices are right next to each other and I like to play pranks every so often,” he explains when you ask him about why your boyfriend yells at him so much.

“Technically, it’s his fault for being out of the office so often,” Suna reasons. “And I only say that because I’m one of the accomplices to the office pranks. We all are.”

“I bought the wrapping paper for the one on his car,” Aran adds. “Yaku pitched in for the Post It notes on April Fools day, but we don’t let Atsumu in on the pranks anymore ‘cause he talks too much.” Your mouth gapes in disbelief, unable to imagine the organized, well put-together machine that is your boyfriend getting pranked so easily. 

“It’s only because we love him as a trainer, though.” Yaku is backed up by nods of agreement from the rest of his team. “He really loves his job; I think the only thing he loves more than volleyball is–”

“You, obviously.” Hajime returns from fishing out people to introduce to you, easily finding his place by your side. “They tell you about how much they fuck up my office?” The perpetrators’ voices overlap each other in protest, arguing that he’s the one who keeps leaving his door unlocked. “Yeah, yeah. Just you wait until I get this one in on pranks against you guys.” He tilts his head towards you and is met with friendly taunts of competition, saying that you’re too nice to prank them or that they’d never fall for any of his pranks. His head dips to whisper in your ear while the team is preoccupied with debating what song to request from the DJ to create one big Olympic flashmob. “Mind if I steal you away, real quick?”

“Of course. But be fast; you need to be back in time for the big dance number,” you tease and he rolls his eyes with an amused smile, lacing his fingers in yours and pulling you down a back hallway of the club. The black walls reflect the moody shades of pink, orange, and blue shining from the lights above and you find that the music isn’t as loud in the little corner he finds for you two. When you’re ready, he pulls out a small box tied with a ribbon from his pocket.

“Wanted to give you this on your actual birthday but didn’t want Atsumu’s big mouth to ruin it out there,” he says and you chuckle, carefully taking the box from his fingers and unwrapping the bow. You pull off the lid and find a delicately silver chain threaded through a pendant indented to resemble a volleyball; flipping it over and admiring it in the light, you discover a stamped “H” on the back that only appears when the light hits it just right. 

“Hajime, this is beautiful,” you breathe. 

“You like it?”

“I love it.” You remove the necklace from the box, but before you can fasten it around your neck, he stops you. 

“May I?”

“You are a hopeless romantic,” you grin. 

“Only for you.” His fingers brushing your neck send goosebumps over your skin and he carefully secures the chain at the back. 

“How do I look?” You turn to face him and see his pupils blown wide open, licking his lips and blinking to maintain his restraint. 

“Like you’re mine,” he rasps and he closes the remaining distance between your bodies, letting your back hit the wall and tilting your chin up with two fingers to kiss you. Your fingers comb through his hair and he groans into your mouth when you tug on it experimentally. His hands firmly grip your waist while he kisses you infuriatingly slowly, like he was savoring this private moment without the prying eyes of his teammates. He pulls away to breathe but doesn’t go far, nudging his nose against yours. “The guys didn’t say anything dumb to you, did they?”

“No, but they did let me know how much you talk about me,” you whisper and he rolls his eyes again, your eyelashes brushing his face when he leans in close again. “And how much your dumbass gets pranked.” 

“In my defense–” You cut him off with an uncontrollable fit of laughter, one that he joins into with a tired shake of his head. “You know what? I don’t have a defense. Happy birthday, my love.” He presses a sweet kiss to the top of your forehead. “Every day I think about what I did to deserve someone like you.”

“You existed and I found you,” you say simply. “That’s just how it works and now you’re stuck with me and all my future birthdays.”

“You say that like I’m not ready to grow old with you in any lifetime.”

if you enjoy my writing and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee on my ko-fi! you can also check out my full masterlist here :)

[turnaboutspoiler]

I was trying to figure out how many parts of Book 7 are left by counting... the cards.

I mean in Book 7 we have special cards for main characters and for now we have only Ortho (Cerberus armor), Lilia (General armor) and Sebek (Soldier armor).

That means we're waiting for Idia, Silver and Malleus. So I guess there will be maybe 3 more parts? For 3 new card? And there will be 150-160 chapters in general?

And talking about the cards, I think they're gonna come out in the order I wrote it before (Idia, then Silver and finally Malleus). I also have my thoughts about what exactly these cards may be.

For Idia I expect something similar to Ortho, so they have the same style and vibe. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who have been waiting for Idia's STYX uniform card since book 6🥴😭 But since it feels unreal for Idia to get to STYX in the current situation I think they're gonna give us something different. I would really like to see another card with his hair fully red-fired (for now we have only his dorm uniform groovy, that's unfair). I actually expect him to hide something in the depths of Ignihyde. You know, something he crafted when he was bored again, but it's like super powerfull weapon or whatever. Or he could make it right here right now and his card could image it.

Then for Silver I thought it would be cool to see him in Silver Owls' armor (in contrast to Lilia and Sebek), but that seems already impossible. But as everyone changed their outfit I believe the same will happen to Silver, so I don't really know which one it could be.

And as for Malleus, I really want to see his overblot card! I already made a theory that his current overblot can be not the full form of it and yeah I still want a dragon. But maybe we're gonna have his card in the very end which will be all-together Diasomnia family card. Or maybe we're gonna see Yuu in his card, who knows?

Anyway I just can't wait for the next parts and new cards. For now I really love all three specials and I definitely will go for them on my EN acc!

[offtorivendell]

The possible significance of Azriel and Elain Archeron, the Embrace of Solas and Cthona, the paired blades Gwydion and Truth-Teller, and thin places; a theory

Disclaimer: this is a theory that came to me while reading HOFAS, and as usual it makes absolutely no claim of being canon. It builds on past theories that my friends and I have written about Elain, Azriel, the revival of certain lands, the blades Truth-Teller and Gwydion, and brings in some new info from the latest CC book. It also won't be my best effort, as time is currently lacking. I meant to get this out for @elriel-month but yeah, that didn't happen lol. As usual, rambles and overly long sentences ahead. Sorry!

Thanks as always go out to @wingedblooms and @silverlinedeyes for listening to me rant, and believing me when I say I'll actually get around to writing out my thoughts, even though it takes me ages. I love that so many of our theories tie in well together - please check out their theories, too!

Spoilers: Maasverse spoilers ahead, please proceed with caution if you haven't finished reading.

Gwydion (aka the Starsword) and Truth-Teller; the Made blades

In CC 1 we got a brief description of the stylised version of the Embrace of Solas and Cthona as a necklace, worn by Bryce's mother, Ember:

Five minutes after Bryce got there, Jesiba’s client—a raging asshole of a leopard shifter who believed he was entitled to put his paws all over her ass—prowled in and purchased a small statue of Solas and Cthona, portrayed as a sun with male features burying his face in a pair of mountain-shaped breasts. The holy image was known simply as the Embrace. Her mother even wore its simplified symbol—a circle nestled atop two triangles—as a silver pendant. But Bryce had always found the Embrace cheesy and cliché in every incarnation. - CC HOEAB, chapter 22

Firstly, could this be the (hypothetical) wyrdmark on the left shoulder of the figure on the HOFAS cover? The two mountains are there, but the mark between them isn't exactly a circle, so it's not blatantly obvious, but it's possible (I'd love it if the marks on her arms represented the different gods, or Urd in all of her forms). Perhaps light and dark light cancel each other out in some way? And how relevant will the spiral mark be? Does it represent a vortex/portal opening? Or is it the Cauldron's swirling eddies?

Secondly, I also think the two mountains/triangles and the circle/dot in between them look a little like a basic depiction of Gwydion/the Starsword and Truth-Teller (ie. the points of two blades) with a black dot/black hole/portal to nowhere. It's not exact, because the triangles aren't meeting at the tips, so I'm not super confident in it, but I don't think it's impossible, and it could tie back into the six pointed star, and three pairs of powers gathering in the space where they meet. I promise I'm not trying to claim every little thing for Elriel, and given Nesta has her own trio of Made blades, I suspect they could also be relevant here (if Narben is also found, then there would be six blades for the six siblings and six star points), but as Azriel and Elain were the first two to use Truth-Teller (in recent history), I think it's fair to consider their specific importance here.

Elain, Azriel and the Made blades

I've previously suggested that Elain may have powered Truth-Teller with her light, in order to pierce the fabric of the universe before shadow walking to save Nesta and Cassian in ACOWAR (here and here); this is a theory which is not unique to me, as quite a few of my friends think at least some version of it may be true. However, I believe that what we learnt in HOFAS about “thin places,” and the paired blades Gwydion (the Starsword) and Truth-Teller, could take this a step or three further.

To recap as briefly as possible, Elain previously used Truth-Teller to shadow walk in ACOWAR, and we have since had hints that she may use it again in the future. There are many questions left unanswered about Elain's successful use of what we now know is a Made blade, so we'll have to wait and see.

“You honestly think he’d ever give up Truth-Teller?” “He gave it to Elain,” Mor said, admiring a moonstone necklace in the counter’s glass case. “She gave it back,” I amended, failing to block out the image of the black blade piercing through the King of Hybern’s throat. But Elain had given it back—had pressed it into Azriel’s hands after the battle, just as he had pressed it into hers before. And then walked away without looking back. Mor hummed to herself. - ACOFAS, chapter 4

As a brief aside, there are also moments tying Elain to the shadows (whether or not it ends up being Azriel's shadows specifically, her own, or the Void in general remains to be seen), and I think we could find out that the middle Archeron sister, who is canonically observant and wise, may have learnt by watching.

Behind me, Mor took Nesta and Cassian by the hand, readying to winnow them to the camp, while shadows gathered around Azriel, Elain at his side, wide-eyed at the spymaster’s display. - ACOWAR, chapter 50

Does Elain hear Azriel's shadows singing, and can she and Azriel privately communicate this way?

Did she also hear his siphon singing beautifully in ACOWAR? Perhaps as kin?

The Truth-Teller scene in ACOWAR, below, was also important enough to be included in the ACOTAR Colouring Book.

She refused the knife Cassian handed her, though. Went white as death at the sight of it. Azriel, still limping, merely nudged aside Cassian and extended another option. “This is Truth-Teller,” he told her softly. “I won’t be using it today—so I want you to.” His wings had healed—though long, thin scars now raked down them. Still not strong enough, Madja had warned him, to fly today. The argument with Rhys this morning had been swift and brutal: Azriel insisted he could fly—fight with the legions, as they’d planned. Rhys refused. Cassian refused. Azriel threatened to slip into shadow and fight anyway. Rhys merely said that if he so much as tried, he’d chain Azriel to a tree. And Azriel … It was only when Mor had entered the tent and begged him—begged him with tears in her eyes—that he relented. Agreed to be eyes and ears and nothing else. And now, standing amongst the sighing meadow grasses in his Illyrian armor, all seven Siphons gleaming … Elain’s eyes widened at the obsidian-hilted blade in Azriel’s scarred hand. The runes on the dark scabbard. “It has never failed me once,” the shadowsinger said, the midday sun devoured by the dark blade. “Some people say it is magic and will always strike true.” He gently took her hand and pressed the hilt of the legendary blade into it. “It will serve you well.” “I—I don’t know how to use it—” “I’ll make sure you don’t have to,” I said, grass crunching as I stepped closer. Elain weighed my words … and slowly closed her fingers around the blade. Cassian gawked at Azriel, and I wondered how often Azriel had lent out that blade— Never, Rhys said from where he finished buckling on his own weapons against the side of the wagon. I have never once seen Azriel let another person touch that knife. Elain looked up at Azriel, their eyes meeting, his hand still lingering on the hilt of the blade. I saw the painting in my mind: the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death, shadows and terrors lurking over his shoulder. Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two. The only bridge of connection … that knife. Paint that when we get home. Busybody. - ACOWAR, chapter 69

Firstly, @silverlinedeyes has a post that details how similar this passage is to the six pointed star scene from HOSAB, and the potential significance of it with regards to magical balance and the gathering of power(s). It's outlandish, but I think it could be important for any travels to Hel or beyond that the IC may undertake.

Secondly, I find it really interesting that Elain said to Feyre she didn't know how to "use" Truth-Teller; what if she meant she didn't know how to use it magically? I suspect it's possible that Elain didn't open a portal to nowhere (which appears to require both of the paired blades - perhaps their singing wavelengths cancel each other out?), but rather she created a portal to somewhere, and that's how she shadow walked across the battlefield in ACOWAR (aka she "slipped into shadow" and fought anyway). However, as we all heard her say that she didn't know how to use Truth-Teller, but then did, she obviously figured at least some of it out.

Alternatively, as @wingedblooms, @mrspettyferr, @cassianfanclub and myself have all wondered, did she possibly have some help?!

Was it Azriel, who told us in his ACOSF bonus chapter that he didn't need his shadows to read Elain?

Perhaps is was Nuala or Cerridwen, or maybe even Rhys?

Was it Koschei, the Mother, or a prince of Hel who gave Elain a helping hand?

Even then, how did Elain (hypothetically, of course) activate Truth-Teller? Just like Ruhn found Gwydion and Bryce accessed its magic, so I suspect Azriel found Truth-Teller, but it was Elain who first truly used its power (whereas Nesta, who was at the time full of the Cauldron's death magic, appeared to use it as a simple blade, hastening the king's death after Elain struck a fatal blow). Was it because her light stood in for Gwydion’s own magic and charged it? Is that why Azriel - who I have long thought may have Starborn heritage hidden underneath his shadows - has dark light, or shadows, instead of light? Is Truth-Teller actually devouring his light? Or - less likely - could the obsidian (wyrdstone?) blade be possessed by a Valg, or similar being? Though I'm less certain about that last point, as I wouldn't be surprised if the king of Hybern was possessed by a Valg (or similar) type creature, maybe a Daglan, and if that was the case then why would Truth-Teller decide to behave for Elain, unless the Valg* and Asteri/Daglan are enemies… anyway!

*What we learnt in HOFAS, about the blackest salt/obsidian drawing in the princes of Hel (while simultaneously repelling the Asteri/Daglan) makes me wonder about their possible ties to the Valg from TOG, who used obsidian wyrdstone rings and collars as a way to possess host bodies.

I'm not sure. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, because I think Truth-Teller and Gwydion could be stand ins for Elain and Azriel (not necessarily in that order, though I do think a dagger suits Elain better than a sword does in terms of function); a bond needing to be reforged between them has always screamed “renewed shall be blade that was broken” to me (the Ballad of Strider), and the Truth-Teller scene could be suggesting that the grey - as in the blend of light and dark - could be a thin place between them. It would follow that this imagery, albeit very loosely, could be evoking The Embrace of Solas and Cthona, which Ember wears as a necklace, and that could possibly be a wyrdmark on the cover of HOFAS.

“Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two..." Just seems so relevant here.

Cthona and Solas represent dark and light.

Gwydion/the Starsword and Truth-Teller are (bright) light and dark light.

Azriel and Elain are dark and light... or perhaps light and dark?

Are Void and Chaos (the Mother?) involved?

Is the statue of the primal goddess that Nesta notices in ACOSF another hint here?

If being carranam ties into this, would it include Feysand and Nessian?

Light and dark have grey in between them, and the thin places are described as “gray.” Elain was even engaged to a man named "Graysen" for crying out loud; his family’s colour was even cobalt. I would be so surprised if all of this ends up meaning absolutely nothing in terms of her story.

How could Elain and Azriel stand in for Cthona and Solas when Elain is light and Azriel is darkness?

I could definitely be wrong, but instead of purely life, I (and @wingedblooms) prefer to think of Elain as rebirth, which inherently straddles the murky realm between life and death - the grey between light and dark (and grey) - and beautifully fits with her role as a gardener (relevant theories are here, here, here and here), the Book of Breathings rambling about "rot and bloom and bone," her position as the middle Archeron sister, her ability to blend quietly into the background, and definitely the grey of dawn and dusk. Azriel, though? The one Feyre described as the knife in the dark? Well, he has shadows that can brighten into sunlight, and I suspect that may have been what Elain was referring to in ACOWAR, when she said she needed sunshine.

So...

Azriel's shadows lightening into sunshine: Solas.

Elain and her many ties to the earth: Cthona.

I'm unsure if this is trying to tell us that Azriel will be the stand-in for Truth-Teller, because he is "dark light"/has shadowsinging abilities, while Elain is represented by Gwydion due to her prominent (so far) association with hope or brighter light, or whether it's the other way around, and we're actually being told that, while Elain appears to be light and warmth personified, in the future she will carry Truth-Teller, the blade that is her apparent opposite, as Azriel will wield Gwydion* (if they both end up having surprise powers, being able to swap between light and dark). It's all very murky, one might say a grey area. But I do think it likely that Elain and Azriel will each end up carrying either a blade that represents themself or their partner in some way.

* Yes, I know that Bryce gave Gwydion to Nesta, but she already has her own trio of Made blades. If I'm putting money on who will wield it, I think it will be Azriel, Elain or Feyre.

Thin places and Made blades

Before HOFAS was published @cassianfanclub and I had discussed the - we thought - insane possibility of the differently coloured mountain rock in Prythian being significant in terms of their possible salt content, and that it could be no coincidence that the black and grey rock of the Hewn City was in proximity to a known appearance of one “Lord Thanatos.”

Black salts were used for summoning demons directly—bypassing the Northern Rift entirely—or for various dark spellwork. A salt that went beyond black, a salt like the obsidian … It could summon something big. - CC HOEAB, chapter 18

Bryce stiffened at the moldy, rotten earth scent that crept from the bundle as he unfolded the fabric to reveal a handful of rust-colored salt. “What the fuck is that?” Ithan asked. “Bloodsalt,” Bryce breathed. Tharion looked to her in question, but she didn’t bother to explain more. Blood for life, blood for death—it was summoning salt infused with the blood from a laboring mother’s sex and blood from a dying male’s throat. The two great transitions of a soul in and out of this world. But to use it here … “You can’t mean to add that to their water,” Bryce said to the Astronomer. The old male hobbled back down the ramp. “Their tanks already contain white salts. The bloodsalt will merely pinpoint their search.” - CC HOSAB, chapter 38

Mor went right up to the obsidian dais, and I halted at the foot of the steps as she took up a place beside the throne and said to the crowd in a voice that was clear and cruel and cunning, “Your High Lord approaches. He is in a foul mood, so I suggest being on your best behavior—unless you wish to be the evening entertainment.” - ACOMAF, chapter 42

The mountain underneath the House of Wind - the one that houses the library in which I think a certain cat-like darkness could be a prince of Hel - contains both red stone and obsidian doors, with veins of silver running throughout (which reads like hope in the void, like the Velaris Weaver's tapestry, and I suspect may be important for Elain's journey, given she is frequently associated with hope).

Rhys stepped into a hall at the foot of the stairs, revealing a wide passageway of carved red stone and a sealed set of obsidian doors, veins of silver running throughout. Beautiful—terrifying. Like some great beast was kept behind them. - ACOWAR, chapter 20

If @silverlinedeyes, @wingedblooms, @ladynightcourt, @cassianfanclub, @psychologynerd and I are right that Clotho and some of her priestesses are involved in something massive, and have been contacting at least one of the princes of Hel, this would make sense! Black salt to summon something big, and red salt to pinpoint their search. And obsidian doors?!

We then learnt the following in CC HOFAS:

“The black salt, in such high quantity, keeps them away. They never realized that its presence drew us as much as it repelled them,” Apollion said with satisfaction. “It has the same properties that made us immune to the thrall of their black crowns.” - CC HOFAS, chapter

“The black salt only repels the Asteri; the mists repel everyone else. But certain people, with certain gifts, can access the power of thin places—on any world. World-walkers.” Aidas gestured gracefully to Bryce. “You are one of them. So were Helena and Theia. Their natural abilities lent themselves to moving through the mists.” - CC HOFAS, chapter

Elain is almost certainly a world walker - doe eyes searching across the world! - and Azriel may be one as well, but what if it is everyone who can winnow? Or just those like them, with a deeper affinity to the Void? And are they walking thin places themselves/as a partnership (remember the charged glance they shared last winter solstice), or do they just have a natural ability to make use of those which exist in the wild? Or is it some combination of the above?

Additionally, the obsidian hilts of Truth-Teller and Gwydion appear to be incredibly important here. In addition to the possibility that the Illyrian runes Truth-Teller carries on its scabbard may in reality be wyrdmarks, what if the obsidian hilts both summon the bearer in a way that allows them to access the void/murky realm and provides protection from any prying Asteri/Daglan eyes? Are the hilts made from wyrdstone? What about Koschei? Is Truth-Teller the reason his magic captured Cassian instead of Azriel in ACOSF?

There are so many possibilities beyond shipping, though given this is romantasy we know the relationships are more important to the story than your average romantic side plot, so we really can't separate the two while theorising. But either way, I'm so excited to see where this leads, and if we'll finally get detailed information about the gods in each or SJM's worlds, and how they may function throughout her extensive literary universe.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading!

[silvergreenseraphim]

Angeal and Sephiroth (And Genesis?)—Dissidia Opera Omnia—Part One

Alright, so this chapter was a lot, and it opened with Weiss quoting “Loveless” for a reason, it seems.

“When the war of the beasts brings about the world’s end, the goddess descends from the sky! Wings of light and dark spread afar, she guides us to bliss…her gift everlasting!”

Weiss becomes our voice for Genesis, or his “brother,” in this chapter. When Seymour questions his quote, Weiss replies,

“It was a passage from a story our brother loved. He used to quote it for his best friend. That friend was Sephiroth, the hero and friend of the other “brother,” Angeal as well.”

This part was hard to translate into English, but Weiss essentially explains that Genesis used to quote Loveless for his close friend, Sephiroth, the hero, and Angeal was right there with them as the third friend in the trio.

Seymour is shocked and gasps, “Sephiroth and Angeal were best friends??”

Weiss replies, “It’s hard to believe of the now-evil “hero” that never reveals his heart. And yet, the exemplary First Class soldier that is a role model for everyone was his friend.”

I am on the fence about the translation of this part and may change it once my friend gets back to me, but for now, it seems like Weiss is pondering the friendship of Sephiroth and Angeal and how differently they turned out, because Seymour does make a comment like, “I suppose if you have dreams and honor, you can’t go wrong.”

But there is potentially more here that Weiss is saying about his own relationship to Sephiroth and Angeal—perhaps suggesting he is not their friend and doesn’t quite understand their past relationship himself. I will have to keep researching.

We cut to Sephiroth again, who is confused about his memory returning. He says he didn’t expect any memories to return from the Lifestream, but shakes his head and denial. He claims these memories Angeal brought back are unnecessary and that he most remove Angeal from the picture immediately. His motives are set.

Meanwhile, Zack and Angeal are talking about how Sephiroth changed. I translated this on Altocat’s blog and here is what they say:

Zack says,

“Angeal, I know you’re surprised…I can’t believe that Sephiroth changed like that…

Angeal replies,

“So, you were taken aback as well…”

Zack says,

“It was out of nowhere. We went to investigate Cloud and Tifa’s village…and I guess he discovered his origins. He killed everyone and burned down the village. He had always been the hero I strived to be…”

Zack and Angeal are both very crestfallen here, lamenting this knowledge. Angeal pulls himself together and says,

“I know…I’m disappointed too. Everything changed while I was gone, I guess.

Angeal further laments that he wasn’t there, and Zack reassures him that even though Angeal disappeared at the time and pushed everyone away, Zack would have stayed by his side and helped. Zack would have left Shinra, and he says he is sure Sephiroth felt the same way.

Angeal thanks his student but says that it was his choice and lonely path at the time—he had to carry the responsibility as a First Class soldier. Zack chastises him saying he shouldn’t think that way—after all, Zack is a First Class as well, and has enough experience. He could have helped Angeal. Angeal begins to reply, saying, “Zack…” but then they are interrupted by the others.

They say it’s time to make a decision about Sephiroth, and Cloud explains that the silver boi is planning to turn the world into an empty vessel that he may sail the cosmos with in order to find another world. An Advent Children reference, of course.

Rufus mentions that this goal is very similar to the desire of Jenova. He has to then explain what Jenova is to the other characters, as well as the Reunion theory.

This makes a lightbulb go off in Angeal’s head and he gasps, “So basically…Sephiroth is Jenova?”

He puts it together that Reunion implies that Jenova’s cells must be drawn back to their source, and since that source is currently Sephiroth, they must be the same.

However, the others simply say that Sephiroth/Jenova must be eliminated, and agree to hunt him down. Everyone nods and moves forward except Angeal, who lingers with hesitation.

In the next part, they are in the process of tracking Sephiroth, but the group notices Angeal’s troubled demeanor. They ask him if he’s okay and Kadaj says that he heard about Sephiroth being Angeal’s good friend. He says that it must be disheartening to see Sephiroth in his current state, since nothing is like it used to be.

Angeal notes Kadaj’s own tone of disappointment and Kadaj explains how Sephiroth used him as a puppet to find Jenova’s remains, which horrifies Kadaj because if Sephiroth and Jenova are the same, then his own “mother” used and betrayed him in such a way.

Angeal encourages Kadaj and gives him one of his classic pep talks, appealing to his usual “dreams and honor” code. Tifa notes that Zack often spoke the same way, prompting Angeal to recall teaching Zack all those things.

In response to Kadaj, he then says he was indeed surprised by hearing what Sephiroth did, but he says that,

“Sephiroth had his honor once too…and he has a tendency to hold onto things, so even if I am surprised, I can’t abandon him…”

The others say that they aren’t sure if Angeal’s words can reach Sephiroth, who was cruel enough to destroy Tifa and Cloud’s village. Tifa agrees as she recalls how she begged Sephiroth to explain why he did what he did, but she does say to Angeal that she believes he could have a better chance.

She kindly compliments him on how his “dreams and honor” philosophy had helped her as well. :,)

She encourages Angeal, saying that his words will surely be a beacon and that he should try to speak with Sephiroth again. Angeal hangs his head sorrowfully and agrees, saying,

“I don’t want to give up on him….so I’ll try as hard as I can…”

—

This is a good place to stop because the next chapters are where everything gets chaotic, but for now, we have some build-up for what Angeal wants to do, and for Weiss being a stand-in for Genesis later.

—

Some little notes:

The Zack and Angeal scenes were very sweet, as Zack wants to convince his old mentor to stop shouldering everything alone. Angeal’s absolute refusal to give up on Seph tugs at the heartstrings too, and I find it so sweet that Tifa actually encouraged him.

The “Sephiroth is Jenova” point is fascinating, but I believe we will soon find that Seph’s own will is blended into Jenova’s, as they are aligned, and this might be what reveals to Angeal that there may not be much hope for his old friend. :(

I am struggling with the Weiss and Seymour discussion, and this has been one of the parts that has slowed me down, because the context is hard to decipher, but I suspect that Weiss is comparing Sephiroth and Angeal to the figures in Loveless, which also becomes relevant later. I will update as soon as I can get an explanation from my Japanese friend. I am not skilled enough to decipher everything yet on my own, you see. 😅

But enjoy this for now, and I will be back with more soon! <3

[greenthena]

Metatron's Tie

**Update: check the reblogs. There's a clear picture that shows the tie pattern as flowers. So, there goes my theory. Whomp whomp. Easy come, easy go, as Freddie says. @archangelween @drconstellation

People, I have been trying to get a good look at the Metatron's ding dang neck tie since September to determine what those little blue symbols are. Because, like everything in the Good Omens universe, I believe it's been put there for a reason. I also believe that God has no idea what she's doing, which is why she hired Neil Gaiman to run things for a few decades.

Despite being a so-called agent of Heaven, the Metatron's costume is coded as demonic, from his dark topcoat to the black stripes on his white shirt. The item I find most fascinating, however, is his tie. And this is probably in large part because I've had so much difficulty seeing the subtle blue pattern upon it and that has made my brain itch and made me hyperfixate. As one does.

I think I may have figured out the design, and it complicates all my Metatron theories, but here we go. The Metatron's tie is black, featuring a repeated small bright blue symbol throughout. I've guessed it could be a star or a planet. A cryptic sigil or maybe something to do with the coffee (I'm not a coffee-theory person, though, for the record.) I don't know what it is (well, maybe I do now, and I promise we'll get there in time...I'm a demon of my word), but I do know that it's important.

All the angels have references to their angelic status concealed within their costumes.

Michael is the watcher. She is the one who, in Saturday Morning Funtime, delivers surveillance photos to Gabriel. To reflect this, Michael wears a gold ring featuring several small pearls that symbolize eyes. She is ever-vigilant (hyper-vigilant, ya might say), and even has a contact in Hell (Dagon) to broaden her scope of observation. The placement of the ring in the pinky is also significant. A good watcher mustn't themselves be observed, so Michael, in her role as observer must slip under the radar. This corresponds to the pinky finger being small and quite literally underhanded, as in at the bottom of the hand.

Uriel's ring is a silver star, worn on her/their index finger, the digit associated with authority. (We call it the index finger because we use it to sort and catalog, creating meaning and order.) Uriel certainly commands authority, both in their overall calm and assured demeanor, and also in their actions. It is she who physically confronts Aziraphale prior to the S1 No-pocalypse, easily inspiring fear in the Principality. As for the symbol of the star, I believe it is a reference to modern Angelography (I might have made up that word, but I think you know what I'm talking about) which usually describes Uriel as a sun, star, or the flame of the Almighty.

Sandalphon's symbology is two-fold: a thick gold pinky ring featuring a pair of circles (kind of looks like a lego brick, to be perfectly fair) and that small gold grill he wears on his front teeth. Both these items are the most elaborate pieces of angelic adornment that we see. Sandalphon's overall aesthetic is much warmer than the other angels', leaning toward caramel and tan rather than dove gray. He's a bit of an odd ball in the host of Archangels and stands out based on his wardrobe choices alone. He's also the only Archangel not to return in S2. I don't want to make too much of this, because there are many in-universe reasons why we may not see Sandalphon again. However, in Judeo-Christian scripture, Sandalphon is closely joined with...wait for it...the Metatron, with apocryphal texts describing him as Enoch's (the Metatron's pre-angelic human name) twin brother. I take this with a hefty spoon of salt, though, since Neil definitely plays loosey-goosey with these dogmas and even the scriptures themselves are a veritable soup of contradiction. (The Bible is not a static or universally canonical text, and Hebrew scriptures, outside the Tanakh are a web of activity and debate as to what is accurate. I'm not here for the arguments today; this is not my Bat Mitzvah.)

Finally, we have Gabriel, the only Archangel who doesn't wear a ring. He does, however, wear a watch. I have two thoughts about the watch. First, clocks are thematically relevant in the Good Omens universe. From the grandfather clock in the bookshop to Crowley's elaborate wristwatch (which he has in both show and book) to the opening sequence of S1, which has far too many clock faces to count. So there's that. But holding time in one's hand (or on one's wrist) is a powerful metaphor that illustrates control and higher power. To possess a clock is to command time and space which are essentially inseparable. As the Supreme Archangel, Gabriel is nearly the top-ranking being in the universe (for a time, at least...see what I did there? pathetic laughter) and his wristwatch demonstrates this point.

If you're still with me, you're doing great. Good job.

We've got to see how important the Archangels' symbology is to their characters, I think, to really understand why the sigils on the Metatron's tie matter. So, finally to the point. Dolphins. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

To move forward, we'll need to call upon my old friend, the Tarot deck. Cards, in general, and Tarot, in particular, play a marked role in the GO universe. The Almighty Herself addresses the viewer in the opening lines of the show, "God does not play dice with the universe; I play an ineffable game of my own devising. For everyone else, it's like playing poker in a pitch-dark room, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time." As God speaks, cards appear on screen, and some of those are from the Rider Waite Tarot deck. One specific card that caught my eye in this montage is "Judgement."

This card features an angel blasting a trumpet and waking the dead from their graves on the Day of Judgement. The angel on the card is not named, as such. It's usually assumed to be Raphael, as he is the angel who is prophesied to call and raise all souls on this day. However, I've found other references naming the angel as either Gabriel or the Metatron. Now, I don't want to get overly carried away here, but in the context of Good Omens, reading the Judgement card with the Metatron as the angel pictured may actually make a lot of sense, and clarify the sigils on the Metabutt's tie. The Metatron postures himself as the Voice of God--the Mouthpiece of the Almighty. Kinda like a trumpet, yes?

Now look at the flag on the angel's trumpet. That's called St. George's Cross and it's a very prevalent European Christian symbol dating back to the Middle Ages. Like many images in the Tarot, it's a heraldic emblem that has meaning outside the deck, often associated with bravery and military might. It continues to be used in military iconography into the present day. The Judgement that the angel heralds is not peaceful. It's a call to war. The righteous will be gathered to Heaven and the wicked will be destroyed--a repeat of the first Great War in which Satan and the demons were cast into Hell. In the narrative of Good Omens, this war will bring about the end of time, the end of the world, and the beginning of eternity (hope ya'll like The Sound of Music.)

Kids (human and goat, alike) I think those little blue sigils on the Metatron's tie are Saint George's Cross. (I'm so sorry this is so small and hard to see. Now you know my pain.)

In the Final Fifteen, the Metatron speaks briefly about the Second Coming, which is a reference to Saint John of Patmos' prophecies--you might know them as the Book of Revelation. Some Christians interpret Revelation as an upcoming final judgement for humanity. And it seems, based on in-universe exposition, certain characters view these prophecies in a similar light. In the reverse body-swap at the end of S1, Crowley suggests that the averted Apocalypse was not the end of the conflict. "If you ask me," he says, "Both sides are gonna' use this as breathing space before the Big One. [...] For my money, the really Big One is all of us against all of them." And with the Metatron acting as the Mouthpiece of God, that "Big One," that Day of Judgement, if you will, may well be nigh.

I think the Metatron sees himself as the angel who rings out the Final Judgement. He is the Voice of God, after all. But here is a worrying thought. How little he would need to shift perspective to view himself as the Word of God, as well. The Gospel of John opens, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Same was in the beginning with God." The Word of God is an epithet for Jesus. The same Jesus whose Second Coming the angel of judgement is meant to announce. So what if the Metatron just plans to consolidate these roles for himself: the heralding angel and the Second Coming rolled into one. He would become Judgement Incarnate, supplanting the Almighty once and for all. And for my money, that sounds just like what a demon would like to do.

***I'm updating because several readers have pointed out that it seems like I'm saying Metatron=Demon because Demon=Bad. Thank you for bringing this to my attention--it makes me a better communicator. I can see where it's coming from. It's not my intention. Consider this meta sort of an extension of my "Metatron is the Murder Hornet" meta, which I'll link with the tags if you're interested.

Just wanted to clarify that I think at its heart, Good Omens is thematically about rejecting the dichotomy of good and evil and embracing the messy gray space that is reality.

When I call Metaboob a demon, it's not because I think demons are evil, it's because I think he's the hornet in the beehive and we've seen that demons need an angelic escort (Crowley and Muriel) to access Heaven.

TL;DR Angels are not the good guys. Demons are not the bad guys. Good Omens is NOT about that at all.

[teriri-sayes]

Reactions to Young Master Shield's Chapter 210

TL;DR - GoD agrees with Cale. Sui and CJS versus the wanderer. The wanderer warns Cale. Cale's shield legend returns and he says the iconic line.

GoD Suspects Wanderers Too The reason why GoD left Cale's message on read was because he immediately began a secret investigation on all wanderers and their locations once he read Cale's message. He and CJS also support Cale's speculation that the Five-Colored Bloods were wanderers.

CJS Goes Flying Again There was a scene where Alberu questioned CJS about the wanderer. CJS had replied that it was an enemy and he was not allies with that wanderer. Alberu left to handle the situation, but not before warning CJS to not be reckless and cause trouble.

To be honest, I was confused with that scene. Was Alberu doubtful of CJS because he was a wanderer too? Or was it just MTL messing up the translation again? 🤔

Moving on, Sui switched to his bird form and flew straight towards the enemy. CJS followed him, and the three forces clashed. However... CJS got blown away again and fell on a building roof, destroying said roof.

Seriously, why does CJS always get blown away? 🤣🤣🤣 Alberu had warned him earlier to not cause trouble, and here he is, causing property destruction... 😂

Wanderer is Like CH? There was a scene where CH felt that the wanderer's power was similar to his. If you recall, CH's power was black (despair something something) with some white (hope) in it. And the enemy's power was said to be similar to it, though in a more perfected form.

Hmm? So the enemy had the same experience as CH? Okay, hear me out, I have a crazy theory. Is the enemy wanderer perhaps another Choi Han from a parallel world? After all, Cale's world was called Nameless 1, so it isn't strange if there's a Nameless 2 and Nameless 3, right?

The Wanderer and Cale We did not get any physical description of the enemy, except that it was hard to distinguish if their voice was male or female, and that they spoke coldly. The enemy called out Cale's name, asking if it was Cale who killed the Huayans patriarch back in Xiaolen because Cale was the last person the patriarch saw.

So it seems like they have an ability to see people's memories? But how did they do that when the Huayans patriarch did not even leave behind a corpse?

Anyway, the enemy continued, "You of Thames blood. If you want to protect it, meddle not. Your power is only this much." And the enemy proceeded to send an attack to Cale.

Now, I'm confused again on whom the enemy was referring to when it came to protection. Was it the Thames? Or the audience in the academy's plaza? It seemed to be latter based on the flow of their words, but it could also mean that the enemy would go after the Thames if Cale interferes with what they were doing.

The Shield Will Not Break HE SAID IT! HE SAID IT! Okay, Cale did not really, really, really want to say this iconic line (the amount of sentences in the chapter just describing that he did not want to say that line was 🤣🤣🤣), but he had no choice because people were panicking and he had to reassure everyone.

He was also worried because his younger siblings were present today unlike that time in the plaza terrorist bombing incident. Cale was mentally cursing several times while thinking of how to protect his siblings and everyone.

Of course, when he revealed his silver shield to block the enemy's attack (Raon and Alberu also deployed their own shields to assist Cale), everyone was in awe of the shield's beauty. After he said his iconic line of "The shield will not break," the enemy's attack collided with his shield, and... and... AND... IT'S A CLIFFHANGER! AAAAAAAH!!! 😭😭😭

Ending Remarks There wasn't any funny moments today, except if you consider CJS getting blown away for the nth time. 😂 Now, who is that wanderer? CJS said that the enemy was hundreds of years older than him, and seemed stronger, though he did not recognize the enemy.

Anyway, Cale's speech is as good as cancelled. Or maybe not? If you want to write a transcript of it, it would go like this:

"It's a pleasure to meet everyone." "Damn it." "Silence." "Everyone, please be silent." "Don't panic." "The shield will not break."

Well, Cale, your speech is indeed neat and short like you wanted earlier, right? 🤣🤣🤣

[natsuyuki-w]

Not one of the boys

Twisted wonderland cast realizes that (Yuu) is a girl.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 Featuring: Idia and Ortho - Sebek and Silver

The dark figure in our dorm's yard was unmistakable, and like in his prior appearances, I jogged to him as soon as I noticed.

- VDC you say? Are you actually trying to invite me to this?- - Why yes...The boys have been working hard, I assure you, it's stunning! And well... As fun, as it is following your "Will-o'-the-wisp", I would like to be around you more. - and then backed - Only if you want to of course! -

Much as his Fae companion, Tsunotarou laughed at my expenses leaving me with my lingering smile and owlish confused eyes. - You really seem to know no fear. - he smiled broadly - Very well. I humbly accept your invitation.- and I smiled back, hoping that he would not just bully me after.

- Will you be going on stage? - - Ah no! I'm their "manager", as Vil likes to call me. - - mmm a shame...- I chuckled flustered - Crowley didn't want to risk other schools finding out I am a girl. You never know what accident can happen. Ha ha ha - - Mm yes I can see that. Lilia told me he discovered it accidentally as well. -

I thought back to each event. Practically everyone was surprised, and I started feeling a little insecure - ...Tsunotaro, you think...Am I perhaps not feminine enough? - And he threw me a weird look - I mean, nobody ever noticed till seeing my... More prominent features. And is not like I'm going so much out of my way to hide it! So you know...- and I scratched the back of my head.

He hummed and smiled beautifully - No, I think you're plenty. - his words without an inch of tease - I think the beauty of your femininity is enhanced by your boyish charm.- ... - Wai..what!? - - I'm looking forward to the day of the show Goodnight Yuu.- *puff* and he left me standing in a blushing mess.

- Tsunotaro thinks I am beautiful...- I sighed dreamily - and he looked happy, I'm glad.-

Trope

A couple of days before the culture fair I made my way to Mr. S's Mystery Shop - Gooood morning Sam! How is it going? - - Hello (Yuu), very well thank you. Radiant as always are you? hahaha. - - Of course! My delivery has arrived yet? - I scanned the shelves. - The pile is right there next to the Grimoire. - he pointed. - You almost caught them this time. -

- Uff... I don't understand why they're so... slippery. They've been so kind to sell all those manga for such a low price. I would really like to thank them face to face no? - - They are elusive indeed. - commented Sam - Sorry, but he begged me multiple times not to say a word. - and winked. He wasn't sorry at all, he just enjoyed seeing my frustration. - Yeah yeah... I'm not here just for those; we need to refill our team. - and I handed him the list of ingredients.

---

- Another pile? - Commented Grim. - I know right?- completely missing his point. - And for like 500 Madol??? - - Shopping again Trickster? - I nodded happily to Rook - Have you seen them this time? - - Nah. Again, they ran away immediately. - I climbed the stairs to pose my new collection - And it's... so frustrating? Like sometimes they go for an hour via chat, talking about what I should watch or read, his thoughts and theories... but then they shut down completely "Sry I'm such an otaku lmao bye.'" and avoid me for days. -

- Would you like me to do a little research? - asked the hunter with a sharp smile. -...no...tho, thank you for...the thought. I guess. - I patted his shoulder awkwardly. What I didn't know then was that he already discovered the identity of my seller. - But why give away all those books anyway? - pondered Grim. - Apparently bought a stock of Mangas and he owned already some of the series. They're "sharing the words of those artworks for the greater good". Something like that. -

---

On the day of the festival, me and Grim joined the booth check team. Entered the boardgames club exhibit we found a tall boy with long hair like flames sulking in a corner of the class. - Ahh, two hours left until the research presentation...- -... Idia, what are you doing at a place like that? - frowned Riddle. - It's called anxiety. - I mumbled.

- Uwah!!! Riddle master!!! Why are you here? - he jumped. - M-master? - - Fist of steal even outside the dorm eh? - I nudged the redhead on the side. He frowned at me and taking advantage of his distraction I saw the awkward boy nodding profusely. - Are you ready for the research presentation?- turned back the little tyrant. - Y-you don't have to worry. Just wait and see. - responded the other.

I stared for a moment in thought, making him even more fidgety than before - Are you perhaps... Ortho's brother? - - Sigh... *Eh-hem Y-yes. - he exhaled relieved. - 'Knew it I saw somewhere that blue hair! I have to say, after seeing him "draw a sword" defending your honor at the VCD auditions, I was very curious about meeting you. - - I-well-there's n-nothing i-i-interesting aab-b-bout m-me...I CAUGHT THE INTEREST OF A NORMIE IKEMEN????? - he mumbled hiding from my view.

- Riddle Roseharts, Trey Clover, Grim, hello! Of course, I'll always be there for Nii-san, he's a genius, (Yuu) (Wander)! - appeared the brother in question before I could protest the title of normie. - (YUU) (WANDER)??? - Idia jumped back but quickly covered his mouth and his back faced us all for a second time. He sneaked a look from his shoulder, caught my eyes, and the flames on his head turned pink. My companions looked me over questioningly, but seeing my expression just as confused, they searched for answers in his most trusted subject.

*Blank stare.* - W-well...*eh-hem Hi Ortho! I'm sure you speak the truth about your brother, I'm looking forward to hearing the...- - ...(Yuu) (Wander) - interrupted me once more in a softer tone. The four of us stared back and forth at the pair in search of answers.

- But it's great! - suddenly quipped Ortho. - Nii-san don't you understand? Is like in that Shojo where the girl in disguise in the boy academy becomes friends with her crush and...- - W-W-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ORTHO??? - The floating boy started to chant robotically. - (Yuu) (Wander) has sent at 09:45 a.m., Friday 2...- - I KNOW WHO HE IS BUT WHAT GIRL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??? - - (Yuu) (Wander), student at Night Raven College, is a non-magical human being. Gender Female, height...-

- Stooop - I interrupted the chaotic theatric playing before our eyes. - 1, How was I unaware of sending messages to...you... - but the teenager was no longer with us, his soul probably left his body, and the now empty shell lay on the ground stiff...- ...and 2, when did you find out about me, Ortho? Being a girl that is. - I got closer to check on the dorm's leader's well-being. Tho, sensing my nearby presence he recovered immediately and ran out in a string of apologies. His hair turned a Barbie pink.

- I... Hope his presentation goes well. The magic, engineering that he specialized in has a lot of interesting articles about modern magic. So let's hope this...predicament hasn't caused too much brain damage. - pondered Riddle. - I'm a bit worried, but I'm sure he is going to recover. - and the little Sheoud turned back to us.

- So... What just happened exactly? - trailed off Grim. - You asked: 1, how were you unaware of sending messages to my brother? Nii-san has been chatting with (Yuu)San under the nickname of "Gloomy Samurai" in the second-hand shopping app: Twyst. - *GASP! I reacted dramatically - He was my generous dealer!!!! - - What was he dealing to you??? - Riddle panicked already picturing me falling into the drug club. - One launched Man, flexible cover edition from 01 to volume 23, Junior High attack, redesigned edition, flexible cover, complete... - - Mangas Riddle, Mangas. - I reassured.

- And for number 2: I scanned and stored your physical information when we met the first time. - he confessed nonchalantly. - That's... Fascinating intimidating. - I commented, eyes wide open. - And what was that Shojo girl in a boy academy... - teased Trey. - Please Ortho, don't answer that.- I flashed the green-haired boy a sharp gaze.

I had the impression Gloomy Samurai would've shut me down completely from this day on, and if before there was little possibility of him wanting to meet up in RL, now... stupid to even take it into consideration. - Say Ortho, what's your brother's favorite food? - If I couldn't thank him with me present physically or digitally, a gift would've sufficed.

Title

- TSUNOTARO????? - Sebek was in a tantrum.

- You too? - I murmured in disbelief once they finished their back and forth - Tsunotaro, can I confirm a suspicion of mine? - he smiled and nodded curious about what was going on in that small brain of mine. - This is just a stretch... But is it perhaps that you are searching gazes different from "Mighty prince" or "Terrifying magic user"? I mean why come to a public school otherwise right? -

His faithful knight threw again insults, but the subject himself stayed quiet. Silence needed to be fulfilled for my brain to function so I rumbled even more, in search of an understandable response from the boy - You know,...People can be so focused on What we are, instead of the Who. I mean I thought of it because I saw in us some similarities...Of course, is totally on a different level and type,...but, you know,... I can see a behavior change when my friends discover I'm a girl. And it's...- - WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT??? - Sebek screamed and became a blushing mess.

Silver widened his eyes in realization. - The infirmary, it wasn't a dream...- and pink gradually made its way on his face. I flew a hand on my mouth. - I got lost in my thoughts. - Malleus petted my hair chuckling while Grim clapped his paws with a flat face - It could've gone worse - I enquired to the cat - It could've rained...- I joked nervously.

- NOW EVERYTHING IS CLEAR! You have been luring our master! - screamed Sebek - That's why he has permitted you so much! For sure, under that innocent cute look, you're hiding some secret spell, seducing him you little witch. And grumble, grumble, grumble... - - I would take this as offense honestly - I murmured to the prince. - I would take that as a compliment, cute innocent witch, fufufufu.- he teased.

After recovering from my blush, he was still on fire with his ranting. So I decided to suffocate it with my trashing around - Doll, I'm not stealing your man dah. - - Wha...- As I predicted, his voice died stunned. - Not this again...- groaned Grim recalling the joke Catfights between me and my ginger friend.

- This relationship is completely consensual. - I gestured, and perplexed but very amused Malleus nodded - See? And now, look at ya. - I returned to Sebek - Chasing after him, seeking attention - and with a click of my tongue I concluded - so desperate. - - You... Never stop to surprise me child of man. -

---

Earthquake magnitude 6.2 in the Isle of Sages Possible causes: tectonic plates moved by repeated sound waves with abnormal peaks of decibels. Location: Night Raven Collage.

---

They say that I'm a witch And that I weave a spell Well, I'll be a son of a I don't know what Well, let me tell you brother I'd rather be burned as a witch than never be burned at all (I'd rather be burned as a witch - Eartha Kitt)

*Eh-hem so... What happened? - inquired Crowley. Both me and Ruggie despite the clear frustration of the headmaster, sat nonchalantly, being confident in our innocence.

~

I roamed my eyes on one of the topper shelves in the library holding on a ladder to reach them better. - What are you doing up there (Yuu)? - I heard a whisper from the ground. - Oh! Hi Ruggie! Just searching for my way home. What about you? - Maybe I could find some documents about magical transportation or alternative universes. - Ehmm okay(!?) Me? Same usual, Leona's chores. I'm taking some books for him or he'll just forget to do his research. - - Lazy ass... - I snorted reaching for another book. - Leona. That's who he is. *Shshshsh.-

His eyes then darted down. On the topic of asses. - *Eh-hem... Can you lend me a hand? I think I saw one of the books I need up there. - - Oh sure! Which one?- I responded. - There on the third, no no the fourth down,... Yep, A little more on the right...- - This one? - I glanced back. - No no the other one on the left. *Shshshhshs -

Yep, TOTALLY looking at the books.

* SBAM I jumped down. - AARGH DON'T HIT ME! - and neither of us expected the disaster after that.

~

- That's what you get looking at my boogie! - - YOU WERE TRYING TO THROW THAT BOOK AT ME! I can't believe you chicks! Thinking you have permission to use violence on men, am I right? - - NO I WASN'T! I just jumped down, You scared off yourself and hit the shelf on your own!... And don't deflect!!! You were the one scheming to... -

- SILENCE!!! - Crowley's strong voice covered both of ours. - Ruggie. - he called out sternly. The ears of the hyena were now flat waiting for the worse. - By "chicks" you mean,...girls? - he then trailed his eyes on me with that scary glowing gaze of his. Ruggie thought about it for a while and then smirked. - Yes. I meant girls. - he probably thought the Crow would get too distracted, so he could make a run out of his disaster. - That's quite an interesting predicament (Yuu)... Didn't I warn you to take secrecy? How is that this dear student know?-

- You... Didn't know, headmaster? - I blinked confused. - Know what? - I caught him unprepared. - *ps... What are you doing???- whispered-yelled Ruggie. Sure, he wanted for me to be scolded for HIM knowing, but he didn't expect... - I thought either Azul told you or you had noticed already. - I responded. - Aw. That's nice! It means they really did maintain the secret. - I reached the ahs blonde boy and patted his cheek. - I have such good friends! - - H-hey!It's because there was no advantage in telling anybody.- Embarrassed, he drove my hand away.

- (Yuu).- - Yes? - - EXPLAIN. NOW -

Finished this series!!!! Ruggie was with Silver the less brought up in the "discovery timeline", so I thought it might've been nice to include them a little more with two mini stories (Silver's is in part 3).

Malleus, on the other hand no, he didn't need more timing. But my simping for him did.

I hope you had a fun time with lil old me! Wish you the best, 'till next time! ✨💙

[mrwavellswaps]

The Homo-Bomb - Conclusion

(Though this is a wrap-up to the series, I may go back and add more parts to it that are set before this in the future!)

(Make sure to read the ➡️ Prologue ⬅️ first and the other interviews linked with it!)

Wavell hovered quietly over the town of Bellmare, eyes closed and arms crossed as if he were meditating. Over the last couple days he’d interviewed hundreds of people that’d been caught in the magic of his Homo-Bomb in an effort to examine its effectiveness and more notably the anomalies that came with it. By now he already had a good theory as to what had made these anomalies to occur in the first place but he was waiting for his partner to return so they could compare notes in case he’d stumbled across anything interesting that Wavell himself hadn’t.

“Hey! Babe!” Shouted a familiar voice not far in the distance.

Wavell opened his eyes and looked down at the town below to see none other than his boyfriend flying up towards him with a grin. He unfolded his arms and smiled seeing Dane soar through the sky. After a few lessons he’d really taken to flight like a fish to water. The hunk twirled and looped through the air whilst laughing and cheering like a kid on a rollercoaster.

Eventually Dane flew over to his handsome older boyfriend with a stilly cheery look upon his face. “Wow. I don’t think I’m ever going to get over this. Flying is so much fun!” He claimed

The silver haired warlock cocked an eyebrow. “Is that why you didn’t teleport here?”

“Well uhm… no not exactly.” Dane chuckled nervously with a slight blush. “Come onnn Chris. Teleporting is so difficult but flying is so easy and fun.” He explained, referring to Wavell with his current body’s name. “I don’t know how you do it so easily. Every time I try I just end up somewhere random that I don’t wanna be. I try to go to Germany and I end up in Japan. I try to go to Russia and I end up in France. I try to go to Spain and I end up in Egypt!” He complained, thinking back over all his failed teleportation attempts. “I’m afraid if I try it again I’ll end up on the Moon or worse!”

“You’re not gonna teleport yourself to the Moon or Mars or anywhere else other than Earth.” Wavell reassured before teleporting behind Dane and putting a hand on his shoulder. “The magic you hold isn’t strong enough yet to carry you off planet.” He added, making the comment sound somewhat backhanded. “All it takes is practice. Keep trying and eventually you’ll get it right. You used to be a teacher didn’t you? I’d have thought you’d know that much.”

Dane pouted. “Well Magic and Math aren’t exactly the same thing you know. You’re used to it. You’ve had magic your whole life. It’s basically instinct for you. I’m just borrowing magic from you…”

“Not as much as you think.” Wavell muttered as one of his hands moved around Dane’s torso to squeeze one of his thick pecs.

Dane glanced over his shoulder, looking at Wavell quizzically. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

The warlock simply hummed in an amused manner before kissing his boyfriend’s neck. “Don’t worry about it. For now let’s focus on this Homo-Bomb stuff.” He floated around to face Dane directly. “I trust you have plenty of notes to compare against mine from the people you’ve seen?”

Right away the hunk’s face lit up once more. “Ohhhh yeah! Tons!”

“Well let’s head home to compare shall we?” Wavell gave that trademark smirk of his before flicking his wrist and teleporting them both away in a spire of purple smoke.

———

Back at the mansion, Wavell sat behind the desk in his study as Dane pulled up another chair so he could sit across from his boyfriend.

“So let’s see it then. Whatcha got for me?” Wavell asked.

Dane smirked as he reached inside his jacket to pull out a tablet that’d been strapped in tight so it didn’t fall out whilst he was flying. “I wrote down all my notes from the interviews on here. Got some pretty interesting ones too!” He put it down and slid it across the table towards the suited man. “And what about you? Find anything weird?”

Without a word Wavell held out his hand and in a small puff of smoke, a notepad appeared in his grasp. “Quite a few things, yes. I have it all written down here.” He did the same as Dane, placing the notepad on the table before sliding it across.

“Just a regular old notepad?” Dane chuckled. “You could probably catalogue stuff better on a tablet you know.”

Wavell shrugged. “What can I say? I’m an old soul. Can’t go wrong with a trusty pen and paper.” He argued though Dane couldn’t help but feel it was partially the influence of Wavell’s middle aged silver fox body. “Right. Let’s get to it shall we? I’ll read over your notes, you read over mine. When we’re done we’ll compare and compile everything we found out.” Wavell then reached across the desk to grab his glasses before slipping them on. He didn’t actually need them but it was a force of habit, another influence from Chris’ body.

The pair took their time to scan through each other's notes. Wavell scrolled through Dane’s tablet, seeing how he’d categorised his studies into standard homo-bomb cases where the expected changes were made and unusual cases where the homo-bomb had different or additional effects. Meanwhile Dane flipped through Wavell’s notepad to see that he’d colour coded it. His regular cases had blue stars next to them, the cases where additional effects took place had purple stars while the cases where something completely unexpected happened had red stars. It was simple but easy to follow.

Once they’d both had time to read through the other’s findings and discuss them a little, they decided to compare. It seemed that despite the various anomalies, the majority of cases had the intended results. Straight men in the town being targeted by the homo-bomb and being turned gay. This accounted for just under 80% of the results which on its own sounds like a lot but considering the sheer amount of people that were affected, that still left well over a hundred anomalies, big or small.

The anomalies spanned from a multitude of different things. To begin there were anomalies that were only minor changes that both Wavell and Dane encountered. These would usually be straight men that had been turned gay as per the homo-bombs initial intention however they might also show a change in their physical or mental attributes. A very common physical change that was noted was how many men experienced slight to extreme penis growth. Some even going from what would be considered below average to extremely hung. Others also experienced things like beard or body hair growth that they’d previously not been capable of, increases in height, changes to their facial structure, larger hands and/or feet and more. In terms of mental changes the most common was increasing confidence to varying degrees but things like general intelligence and improved motivation were also frequently noted.

There were also cases that took these to a more extreme degree by perhaps experiencing multiple physical changes or ones that were more pronounced. For example there were a large handful of men that experienced things such as significant muscle growth alongside increased height and body hair all at once. Changes that were so intense that they looked like completely different people afterwards. In this vein there were also a small group of people that changed race. Three white men and one asian man became black, one white man became asian, two black men and one asian man became white and lastly one other white man became latino.

Then there were the weirder cases. Ones where the homo-bomb went completely against what it was planned to do. Deviating so much that you’d think these people had an entirely different spell cast upon them. Some of these cases included a few straight women being affected, a demographic the homo-bomb was never programmed to affect. However instead of flipping their sexualities, it flipped their genders instead and transformed them into men. Cocks, beards, muscles and sharp features replacing their formerly feminine bodies.

Adding to the strange cases, there were also two instances where men’s bodies had transformed in a way to look identical to another man in their lives. Becoming their twin in a sense. In one of these cases the man who transformed to become a twin of someone else was already a gay man so, like the straight women, the homo-bomb shouldn’t have even targeted him to begin with. And yet it did.

This seemed to happen a few times with men that were already gay. The homo-bomb should’ve left them alone but instead it decided to latch onto them and make changes. In most cases these were simple physical changes once again like changes to their size and muscle mass as well as their features and more. However there were two men in particular, one encountered by Wavell and the other by Dane, who had originally been gay and the homo-bomb had flipped their sexualities to make them straight instead. Quite literally doing the exact opposite of what it was supposed to do.

Wavell used a little magic to print Dane’s digital notes into physical form on paper while also deconstructing his notepad to pull apart the pages so that they almost looked like large post it notes. With that he compiled all of their notes neatly on the desk before them in organised sectors before ushering Dane to come round to his side of the desk,

“Alright so on this side we have the successful cases.” Wavell pointed towards the right side of his desk where the majority of his and Dane’s notes were stacked neatly in a couple of piles. “All straight men that were simply turned gay by the homo-bomb as planned.”

He then nodded towards the middle of the desk. “Here are all the semi-successful cases. Straight men that were turned gay but also experienced other changes along with it.”

Finally Wavell gestured towards the left side of the desk were only a handful of notes from each of them sat. “And other that side are the unsuccessful cases where the homo-bomb affected people in completely unprecedented and unintentional ways.”

The warlock leaned back in his comfortable leather chair before glancing over his shoulder at Dane. “So what do you think? What caused all of these anomalies?” he asked. “I’ve already got a pretty good idea as to how and why this happened but I want to hear what you think.”

Dane took a step towards the desk and glanced over the notes again. “Well… my first thought was that your homo-bomb wasn’t ready right? You said yourself that it was a prototype, didn't you? Maybe it just has some kinks to work out? Or, kinks to work in perhaps.” He sniggered. After all it wasn’t as if these anomalies weren’t incredibly exciting to see and explore. “Though I can’t think as to what in particular would cause such a wide variety of deviations. I mean the same spell that was meant to turn straight men gay also turned some women into men! Why would it do that?” Dane scratched his chin in thought, trying to think of a possible link between some of these vastly different changes.

“You know I thought the same thing at first. That is until I noticed a certain trend between each and every one of these deviations.” Wavell twiddled with the pencil in his hand before slipping it on his ear. “I’m surprised you haven’t seen it yourself.”

“A trend? But I don’t…”

Wavell tapped two different cases on the table. One being the case of a man that’d not only become gay but also changed races going from being a white man to being black while the other case was that of an already gay twink who grew into a huge muscle daddy with a newfound desire for dominance. “What do these two cases have in common? I’ll give you a hint, it’s not the transformation itself.”

Dane looked down perplexed. Besides both being caused by the homo-bomb, what other things did these cases have in common? Other than them both being men before the homo-bomb struck, he couldn’t think of much. “I don’t get it. What am I not seeing right now?”

“Re-read the notes. Look over the parts where the subjects describe their feelings towards their transformations.” Wavell took the two cases and handed them to Dane.

Now with the cases in hand, Dane did as Wavell suggested and scanned through the notes yet again. This time focusing on the feelings of the subjects. The white guy who’d become black. When describing his physical transformation stated how he’d never felt truly comfortable as himself before and had always desired to be like the black men he surrounded himself with. The gay twink who became a hairy daddy. He mentioned that he always had a deep sexual desire towards hairy daddies just like the one he’d become. That was it. It had to be! “It’s their desire! The anomalies caused by the homo-bomb were actually its magic granting the deep desires of those wrapped in its magic!”

The warlock nodded. “My thoughts exactly.” He gestured towards the array of cases that weren’t fully successful. “You can point to any one of these cases and the subjects being interviewed all hint towards the same thing. That whatever find of transformation they went through was something they’d desired. The women that switched genders wanted to be men. The men who grew beards and body hair always wanted to be hairier. The men who grew bigger cocks always wished to have bigger packages. It all leads back to desire.”

“Yeah I see it now! That has to be the connection between them.” Dane placed the two cases back with others. “But that said, do we really know why your homo-bomb started doing this? Granting desires instead of just doing what it was supposed to do?”

Wavell placed his elbows on the desk before interlocking his finger and resting his bearded chin upon them. “You already said it yourself. The homo-bomb just likely wasn’t ready yet. There’s probably some kinks I need to work out to tighten the spell some more.”

Of course that was one reason. But Dane knew Wavell. That couldn’t have been the only reason right? Even if the homo-bomb was a prototype, his boyfriend was far too clever for it to only have an 80% success rate. There was something more and Dane already had an idea as to what it was. He’d noticed it on the night Wavell enacted the spell.

“You know I could be wrong but… on the night you launched the homo-bomb, you were still Kyle Wavell.” Dane began, capturing the warlock’s attention. “You admitted yourself that when you’re in the form your magic can get a little sloppy at times. And you did seem a little… how do I put this? Trigger happy when you launched that spell.”

Wavell was silent for a moment before answering. “I wasn’t sloppy.” There was a small twinge of annoyance in his voice. “Not with a spell like that. Even as Kyle I made sure to perform it exactly as I’d planned.”

Dane placed his hands on Wavell's shoulders, rubbing them gently. “Well maybe it was something else then? All I’m saying is that I don’t think the spell not being perfect was the only problem. After all, lots of unsuccessful subjects weren’t even supposed to be targeted in the first place and yet they were even if they were outliers.” He reasoned. “Why would the homo-bomb do its job correctly for the most part but then deviate in some rare cases to the extent that it did? Sure some straight guys growing a few extra pounds of muscle after being turned gay is one thing but women being targeted and turned into men as well as already gay men being targeted specifically to do a physical transformation? Why would your magic do that?”

The silver fox sighed as he leaned back into the admittedly very nice massage Dane was giving him. “Well it wasn’t me being careless but… I think you might be right in terms of it being something to do with my other self.” He glanced down at his hands, currently still in the form of Chris Wavell of course. “When I’m like this I feel calm and composed so it stands to reason that my magic acts the same.” He then thought to his other self. Kyle Wavell. The version of Wavell when he takes on the form of the young hunky meathead he also absorbed. “But when I’m Kyle I’m… more erratic. The cockiness that comes with that body makes me brash and even chaotic at times.” He smiled as he closed his eyes. “That’s why I love it so much. It’s the perfect way to balance out this form.”

“Chaotic…” Dane lingered on that word. That’s when it hit him. “Wait. You said that when you’re like this, when you’re Chris, your magic is just as calm as you are right? So what if the same applies to Kyle! What if your magic becomes just as chaotic as you do when you’re Kyle!”

Wavell blinked. “Hm. You could be right.” He mumbled.

“I’ve gotta be! Your magic wasn’t just transforming people you’d targeted beyond their sexualities but it was also randomly latching onto people that it shouldn’t have to cause even more unnecessary changes. To cause more chaos! It makes sense!” Dane was grinning ear to ear after having such an epiphany.

The warlock looked down at his hands. “I’ve never known my magic to deviate like this when I’m in that form but then again I’ve never performed a spell like that on such a mass scale before either. I suppose it stands to reason that when unleashed in such a high volume and left to its own devices, my magic could act in a more chaotic manner in accordance with my personality when casting it.” It wasn’t something Wavell had ever considered but he had to admit Dane could most certainly be right. If anything it seemed like the most logical explanation. It was almost a little embarrassing that he hadn’t thought of it himself.

Wavell took off his glasses before getting up from his chair. “It’s certainly a compelling theory. Though of course it’s still just a theory. I’ll have to do some more testing myself to see if there’s any merit to what you’re saying.” He explained. “That said, I think you’re right. Even as a prototype there’s no way I could’ve cast that homo-bomb so poorly as to create that many deviations. It’s simply not a possibility.” Wavell claimed, thinking very highly of himself as usual. “Regardless, these anomalies did make for a very interesting experiment don’t you think?”

“For sure! I had a ton of fun seeing all the weird and wacky things your crazy magic did to people.” Dane beamed. “I’m just jealous you got to interview that one guy who was a merge of two people! That sounds just amazing! A small nerdy guy and a big jock fusing to become one huge hunk? I can’t even begin to imagine how hot that would’ve been to see.”

Wavell laughed. “We’ll have to go visit him sometime. I’ll get him to show you the video recording he has of the night it happened. I have no doubt you’ll be wanting a copy of it to watch in your spare time.”

“If it’s as hot as you described it in your notes then absolutely.”

Having reviewed all of their cases in the little experiment, Wavell waved a hand over the table causing the notes to start flying around before all stacking themselves neatly on the side of his desk. “I’ll find a place for them later. Right now though how’s about you and I blow off some steam? A little celebration for a job well d-.” The warlock hardly had a chance to finish before he was cut off by a pair of lips smashing against his own

“Mmmm sorry. You’re just so gorgeous I couldn’t help myself.” Dane swooned as he reached around and groped Wavell’s perky ass. “I know you usually like to top or switch but after practically solving the reason behind the deviations, don't you think I deserve a little reward? Like maybe… you being a total bottom for the next couple hours as I destroy that perfect bubble ass of yours?” Dane smirked a little, showing a more confident and dominant side to himself that didn’t come out all too often as he gave Wavell’s ass a quick smack through his tight suit pants.

Wavell, amused by this, couldn’t help agreeing. “Fine. I suppose you do deserve a little something. I probably wouldn’t have come to that conclusion without you so…” He leaned in and gave Dane another quick kiss before whispering. “For the next few hours my ass belongs to you.”

With that Dane didn’t waste any time in reaching around Wavell’s body and quite literally sweeping him off his feet, getting quite the chuckle out of the older man. Dane then proceeded to carry Wavell out of the study and towards the bedroom where he was going to have his way with the warlock. Smirking down at his handsome boyfriend knowing damn well he wasn’t going to stop punishing Wavell’s cocky ass until he’d been filled to the brim with cum. It wasn’t often he could convince Wavell to be a complete bottom so he was definitely going to make the most out of it.

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[little-tyrant-gortash]

I have to move my theory to another post from here, so I can properly save it in my headcanons in my pinned post. 😊

Well yes, after being sold as a slave by your bloody parents to a warlock, you'd think one would be more cautious around a person who slaughtered his ally, butchered countless minions that supported him and literally pissed in his soup. (Because frankly. That's what we fucking did. 😂)

By rights, we should've lost our heads the moment we neared Baldur's Gate.

He does the complete opposite and since he's highly intelligent, I refuse to believe that he's doing it because he's stupid. No, there has to be another reason... why he... automatically... thinks the best of us. And yes, we ARE useful to him if he can persuade us to kill Orin for him, but he offers SO MUCH MORE in exchange for that.

His reaction to us - either Tav or Dark Urge - is overwhelmingly, frighteningly positive. He made a pact with Orin she wouldn't kill him but our mere word was enough. What's that if not hope and positivity?

I was thinking about something concerning this all. When we first talk to him face-to-face, we're in literal neck deep shit... he still has ideas how to proceed, he still has a positive look on our collective future.

I have a theory. I've been collecting these for a fanfic where he eventually turns away from Bane to Lathander. Because for me it's all. Right. There. It's also interesting that there's a MASSIVE lore on other gods but they've made an entire fucking Lathanderian monastery for us to wander in BEFORE we even know Gortash exists.

Okay, let me rant because I'm losing my mind, sorry:

Enver (Anwar) means "brighter, more luminous" in Arabic.

Enver Gortash's title is Lord Lightbringer. For comparison, Lathander's other name is the Morninglord. Very, very similar. And Lathander is rather the God of Dawn, representing a new day, a new beginning. It's also interesting that one of the titles a priest could get is Sunrise Lord. Sunrise Lord / Lord Lightbringer? Jesus fucking Christ Larian.

His Steel Watch have this big silver symbol on them that (to me at least) resembles the sun. Interesting he designed it in silver - the sun also looks white when we look directly at it, isn't it? Also: gold on black (light in the dark). And there are literal sunrays. Like dawn.

His exact words to us are "[we will] rise over Toril like a roaring sun"

Lathander's portfolio includes "birth, renewal, spring and youth, as well as athletics, self-perfection, vitality and creativity". Some of these definitely apply to Gortash, at least self-perfection, vitality and creativity does.

This entire passage on this page: "[Lathander] is the god of dawn, which represented the potential of a new day. A god of hope and beginnings, Lathander's name was invoked at the start of new endeavors, (once again, "[we will] rise over Toril like a roaring sun"] whether sealing a new deal, or setting out on a new journey."

Once more: like a roaring sun, because these words are burned in my brain. Bane is often called the God of Darkness. Why, pray tell, does Gortash say roaring sun? I'm going mental at that fucking line.

God of Hope - House of Hope (painful, but strange coincidence 😫)

"His was an eternal optimism, a constant willingness to focus on hopes for the future rather than wallow in the failures of the present. He was a doggedly determined god who encouraged proactive altruism and constant reevaluation of the old ways."

This ^ is also interesting because upon meeting him, Gortash doesn't focus on the past or the failures of the present either, he focuses on the future and what we can do together. He's also determined and constantly reevaluates the old ways (with his creations, his involvement in politics, his ascension, with his plans).

And how could he escape the House of Hope if he had no hope that he had a future, a new dawn?

I don't think that the creators did all of this by accident. It's visible they've paid careful attention to other details, too.

Maybe, just maybe... deep, very deep down... unconsciously... hidden from even Bane...

Gortash is drawn to Lathander. To the light. To the dawn and new beginnings.

And perhaps... maybe... he hopes that we are the ones who can bring him back to the light.

[bestworstcase]

@cryptidblues tumblr Ate this ask for some reason so copying text from the email notif

See I’ve always thought that the mechanism through which cinder stole the maiden powers (bug) from Amber made her a Grimm hybrid. And THATS why Ruby’s silver eyes worked on her at the top of beacon tower; regardless of the presence of the wvyern. Because underneath her skin she was Grimm (and still fully human). “Your newfound strength brings with it a crippling weakness”/“You said the light only reacts to Grimm but…it reacted to Cinder”/“perhaps there was something that you just weren’t seeing?” Leading from that the implicit threat of “Oz can’t defeat [Salem]”/“but maybe someone else can?” to Salem is not that Salem could be eradicated by silver eyes (go poof like other Grimm) but rather be put back in The Tower by silver eyes. By being turned to stone. Still immortal but frozen. Trapped. Her Freedom completely sundered. “You thought there was no greater punishment we could bestow upon you?”/“Your light comes from his brother”/“The god of light…his eyes”. There’s an assumption that Salem is invulnerable, no personal skin in the game, “she’ll come back”, nothing effects her, nothing sticks; but her running this risk of being petrified by silver eyes gives depth and high stakes to any interaction she has with Ruby face to face (and her possible complex relationship to a hypothetical favorite silver eyed lieutenant). ᓚᘏᗢ

the reason i Don’t believe the grimm beetle made cinder vulnerable to the glare atop beacon tower is that ruby hits her with a second full-blown glare in atlas towards the end of v7 and—even though cinder by that point has a whole grimm arm—cinder flies away from that one unscathed. either:

a) the implication salem makes in v5 that cinder can learn to resist the glare is true,

b) there is an additional, unknown but more important factor besides “grimm” involved here, or

c) both.

i think the answer is probably both, although more b than a. (maria sees the flash coming from the god of light’s eyes and concludes this power came from him; but she couldn’t see that ruby’s eyes were silver until she saw their light go off, and she missed those two silver-eyed children of ozma’s. “maybe there’s something you’re not seeing” is true of her, too)

(the silver light evokes the pure white of the void between realms, where the dead travel from life to death and the souls of the living and the dead can meet in between. ozma passes through this liminal space every time he dies and reincarnates, and his children with a mortal woman have silver eyes. after ruby witnesses pyrrha’s death and her light erupts, the hand cinder used to kill pyrrha is destroyed and ruby spends months hearing echoes of pyrrha’s final words—which she wasn’t there to see—haunting her dreams. there are butterflies, classic symbols of reincarnation and in certain cultures historically identified as psychopomps, all over the scene where maria discusses her theory. maria is also philosophically wrong in her conception of creation/life as “enemies” of destruction; destruction feedslife and exists in balance with creation, and the glare itself is definitionally destructive. silver eyes have something to do with death.)

the kids at least, per nora and “maybe someone else can [destroy salem]?” do seem to be thinking in terms of ruby’s eyes being the silver bullet that can stop salem if not destroy her outright, and ruby has the wyvern example to look to to be thinking about trapping salem in stone forever. but then the leviathan is there to raise the possibility that petrification is not necessarily forever, and salem herself seems unconcerned when ruby’s eyes start to flash in ironwood’s office. plus again the implication salem makes that the glare can be resisted: if that is something she taught cinder to do, it’s something salem must be able to do too.

i do think the glare is probably capable of hurting her somehow—i have my own specific headcanons as to how for Fic Purposes but in terms of textual speculation, what happens if you take a grimm woman who can’t die and blast her with the grimm-killing light from the threshold between life and death? it sounds painful, if nothing else.

but if the leviathan could break free after being petrified, and salem is both immortal and human and thus able to, like cinder in v7, resist the glare in some way, i think being turned to stone or encased in stone is not likely to slow her down for very long. although i can’t imagine she would enjoy the experience.

the other factor to consider is that—well, quite a lot of the fandom assumes the point of silver eyes is to “purify” the grimm out of people, for example saving cinder from her grimm arm, and on the basis of maria’s theory that is an easy extrapolation to make; which is to say, after the experience in the ever after, i wouldn’t be surprised if the idea of “purge the grimm out of salem to make her herself again?” was broached on the heroes side. the reality though is that being grimm is not what’s wrong with salem and becoming grimm is something she chose, or at least accepted as a possible consequence of what she attempted to do when she jumped into the pool of grimm, and using silver eyes to try to Force Her to go backwards is probably not a good idea and not something that will work. she is change incarnate—that’s what destruction means.

so there is a thematic challenge here that might be explored; seen through the lens of maria’s theory, silver eyes are anti-change (preservation) and therefore anti-theme (destruction is part of life, not the enemy of life) so her theory is incomplete and the most obvious way to fill in the gaps and arrive at the whole truth is to test the glare against salem herself, because she is change. 

and because rwby is so thematically driven i’d anticipate this happening concurrently with salem turning in a new direction, which intersects in very interesting ways with what is being set up vis-a-vis needing cinder to open the vaults vs wanting cinder to be alive, safe, and free. (i think the momentum there is toward salem being forced to choose between getting the crown and protecting cinder, and she’ll sacrifice the crown for cinder’s sake; the… possibility of silver eyes being involved in that scenario is obvious.)

[bittersweetresilience]

adrien often being referred to in fanon as “sunshine” and the sun and something about Felix having Moon symbolism. is this anything sunny?

sentitwin sun moon symbolism is absolutely ridiculous. i have thought about it before but never gotten anywhere. this time i consulted @ninadove about it and rotated it in my mind for many hours and i am still not sure about my verdict. therefore i'm just going to ramble a bit and then pass it over to nina. birthday teamwork!

i started out agreeing with the assignment of adrien as the sun and félix as the moon.

their personalities seem to fit the vibes. moreover, it ties into yin and yang.

adrien's miraculous is placed on the yang half of the miracle box, and ladybug's on the yin. his hair is parted to the right, which is the direction of yang, while félix's and ladybug's are parted to the left, yin.

a brief tangent here: even though the placement in the miracle box and adrien and marinette's civilian selves with their white and black outer garments respectively seem to indicate yang and yin, when they become heroes, they swap entirely. ladybug wears red, yang, and chat noir wears black, yin. their powers of creation and destruction are also yang and yin. my theory is that not only are adrien and marinette meant to be halves of a whole as partners, but their hero selves are also meant to halves of a whole with their civilian selves. yin and yang symbolism all around.

back to adrien as sunshine. before félix was introduced, adrien was established as the character in the show with the disney princess golden hair and golden smile, so it's easy to see where this fanon came from.

marinette describes her love for him as three suns in her heart.

then if we want to pair the sentitwins, and we think adrien is the sun, it makes sense for félix to be the moon.

some final evidence in support of this is mirror imagery. the same way the moon reflects the light of the sun, félix reflects adrien. both in his creation as a reflection of adrien's and in his behavior in the show. félix dresses as adrien in over half of his episodes.

but this picture is complicated by several factors. there's a fair amount of evidence that the twins are actually associated the other way around, with adrien as the moon and félix as the sun.

gold and silver color symbolism. one could easily think of gold as the sun and silver as the moon, but in the show, félix and the graham de vanilys are associated with gold and adrien and the agrestes are associated with silver. the wedding rings, the colors of their homes, their camouflaged miraculous, the lighting... anarchist gang talked about this a few months ago and i think nina may want to expand on what we discovered, so i will leave this to her.

another brief tangent here: white and black color symbolism. i have not fleshed out my thoughts on it but i am leaving notes here for future reference. adrien's civilian outfit features white, but this likely reflects gabriel's influence on him. his hero selves wear black. meanwhile, félix is introduced dressed in black and haloed in white as he enters gabriel's sphere. in the play, it's the opposite. at the diamonds' dance, he and marinette wear white and kagami, like lune rouge, wears red. obfuscation? femininity? yin and yang again?

and a third brief tangent here: when chat noir is unhealthy, he becomes chat blanc, who is white, and patte de velours, who is accented with gold. colors of entanglement? of influence? of inauthenticity? are félix's best parts adrien's idea of a perfect self? i am contemplating.

there are more significant reasons for moon adrien and sun félix. in important moments of the show, adrien is frequently associated with the moon. glaciator, chat blanc, kuro neko, new york special... and on the other hand, where does the sun play an important part of the story? in réplique, with félix.

narratively, sentitwins seem to have moon and sun roles. adrien is the one from whom things are hidden, while félix is the one who shines light on the truth. adrien spends most of his time as support, while félix is an active agent. adrien reacts to things, while félix makes them happen, for better or for worse.

nina has an entire essay on félix and the development of his sun associations from lune rouge to the sunrise in représentation, so i'll leave that to her to discuss.

all right. sentitwins are either sun and moon or moon and sun. what does this mean for them?

it intrigues me that adrien is viewed by fanon as the sun when he could be better described as the moon. adrien agreste enjoyers, please get on this.

here is a starting point for your thoughts. if adrien is the moon, it makes sense why he destroyed the moon in chat blanc when he was trying to destroy himself.

and if félix is the sun, it further puts into perspective why he felt guilty about réplique's fate. they were a sacrifice for his goals. he may has well have literally killed them.

role reversal and false impressions are prominent in sentitwins and this complicated picture adds to that.

frequently bought together. do not separate.

in conclusion, yes, autumn, this is most certainly something. fuck if i know what it is, but i love losing my mind about it.