#« gemini kanon : saved »

[hxdrostorms]

@wayfaringstrangxr has sent: Hades x Kanon - Classic or Mafia AU?

MAKE ME CHOOSE BETWEEN: [Accepting]

Something something I can't get enough of the "mortal and his God lover" trope. The mythological touch just makes this whole thing 10x better for me <3. This whole thing just suits Kanon, the guy who fooled a God, SO WELL. I love it.

Only mutuals may interact with this post! Only @hades-kami can reblog this!

Pictures taken from Unsplash Except this one PSD used made by Jaynedits!

[jookumura]

I've been thinking for a while to write a post like this, the reason why I'm doing it in a Tumblr post is because on twitter it will take forever to make and here is pretty much easier.

I'm apologizing in advance for any grammar mistakes you'll find here, I'm not a native English speaker , but doing this in English will be easier to understand for anyone

But anyway ,what I'm talking about?

Why Paradox , Gold Saint of Gemini , is actually a good Character

(This will be long so be prepared for a wall of text .)

Most people that have watched Omega didn't like it, and that's not something new . They also keep it comparing either with the classic saga or Th3 L0st C4nv4s and that's a big mistake if you ask me.

Keep comparing new spin offs to the "most popular ones" ruins the experience because everything will look bad if you do that because "the classic one will always be the best" , if you already start with this "prejudice" you'll ruin everything.

This happened with Paradox too.

I've read people skipping the Gemini and Scorpio houses in Omega because the gold saints were women and there was no way a woman can be a gold saint or people complaining about the look of the armor and how Saga,Kanon and Milo would turn over in their graves and stuff like that,and they didn't even watch the anime only made fun of it by the look and the design.

Starting ,in general , something with all negative prejudices will only lead to a bad experience . You can have expectations, but prejudices will ruin everything.

That's why when i started omega,and in general all spin offs, i NEVER compared those to the classic saga. And that's why, in my opinion, i managed to enjoy most of Saint Seiya spin offs and especially omega.

Now,let me tell a little personal backstory, back in the days ,when omega first aired, I was very active in the Saint Seiya community especially on Tumblr and I had an active blog too (if you've been there 10 years ago,you may remember me as AquaOkumura). Omega was my favorite spin off and I loved,and still love,most of their characters.

When the anime started the 12 zodiac houses arc, i remember when the first leaks of the gold saint of Gemini started to going around on Tumblr. I'm a Gemini,i love Saga so much, so seeing that the new Gold Saint was supposed to be a woman left me both in shock and in hype. A female gold saint?? There was NEVER in any other spin offs a female gold saint,and the first one was the one of my sign?

I was very hyped,and ever after I've read the recap and saw the episode i fell in love with her. But why you may ask.

Now, beside the fact she was the first female gold saint and a Gemini, back in time I liked the "Yandere" stereotype (i was a teen, everyone went in that phase). But now that i grown up,i find her character very interesting and deep.

Let me explain. Growing up I watched numerous anime,read a big amount of manga,watched TONS of movies and so on, but never actually found a fictional female character that i loved as much as i loved Paradox. No female character arrived at her place,and at some point i started to wonder why.

So i decided to watch omega again,10 years later (yes this year). I watched the whole first season and realized why i liked her so much.

Usually people don't go over her "bipolarity" and the fact she's so obsessed with Shiryu and,by default, his son Ryuho. But,in my opinion there's more.

Paradox is the more human between all Gemini gold saints

(I'm counting only the info they gave us in season 1 ,because in season 2 they completely ruined her character but that's another story)

As a child,her parents never showed her a bit of love because they find her a freak. Her ability to see the future scared everyone around her and that left her alone. Both her mother and father hated her because how she was and never listened to her. The day she predicted that they would've died ,they didn't listened to her. And so they both died but she was saved by Shiryu, doing that she saw for the first time EVER affection towards her.

She was left alone in the world but that man stayed in her mind. Why her own parents wouldn't show love or affection but a mere stranger would do that? Such a Paradox started to grow in her mind and became obsessed with it.

That's why she decided to become a Saint.

Not for Athena

Not for the pace in the world (the same world that hated her)

But for Shiryu,to stay with him.

Then,with her ability to see the future saw that keeping Athena in the world will only lead to more suffering and wars,that why when martians started to came in the sanctuary,she let them in. Because she saw the world that Mars would've created was the best and peaceful one (thing that even Fudo said).

(But is unknown if Shunrei would be in that world too or not,so we don't know if she had a double objective)

As a trainee saint,she even wrote a love letter to Shiryu,but he was already in love with Shunrei and instead of receiving a rejection by him,she preferred to rip off that letter and the love for him.

As a gold saint she started to spread love to everyone because she didn't had any as a child,so she tried to love everyone and everything.

Now,we don't know officially Paradox's age (and name) since no official documents for omega were released. We can only "speculate" by her look and trying to build the timeline. She can be in her 20s or not ,but i shall remember that in the classic saga, Seiya with his look was 14.

With that said,what Paradox does to Ryuho is something that happens il real life too. Parents that loose their partner and sees them in their child. This can either lead to a hate or love relationship with them, depending how the lost parent was. (We can ear this also with parents that have lost one child,and treat their second one like the first one and so on).

All the love,the obsession she felt for Shiryu,went to Ryuho , because the first one was out of her reach due him being married to Shunrei. Everything she felt was reflected in to him.

Her obsession tho isn't the healthiest one,we all know that, but for a character with her past,her trauma (that can be the reason she developed a "hate" personality) , her loneliness and her sadness, that's actually a proper reaction. What I meant is that with all she went to,her reaction to everything she did isn't impossible, that's why I said she's the more human,she also probably the most selfish one.

And the Paradox of "Hate"?

Regarding her other personality (which is more like a Jekyll and Hyde thing since they both refer at each other as "the other Paradox"), it was probably developed as a way to deal with all the loneliness she had to deal as a child. During the battle against Ryuho the Paradox of Hate appeared because Ryuho refused multiple times the love Paradox was offering him. Such rejection both made her heartbroken and mad,that's why she appeared and attacked him.

Is more than a "yandere"

Now,if you read this whole thing,i shall thank you. All of this is actually my analysis of the character, I'm not expecting you to change your mind on her or whatever. But if this helped you to see her in a different way than a mere " p3d0 yandere" , I'm happy that I've helped.

Also PLEASE NOTE

That I'm not defending the "questionable behavior" that she had towards Ryuho, I'm strongly against things like that,i just found her her character interesting and I love her look. (I also like their relationship but in a Mother/Son big sister/little brother way)

Thanks so much again for reading,always stan Paradox

(Also who knows,maybe i can do another wall of text on why omega season 2 is wrong on so many ways)

[arcgeminga]

This game is going to bleed me dry.

Defteros is most likely to come to Saint Seiya Awakening, and I heard the news last night while taking a relaxing bath. Ended up not being relaxing because I ended up crying and laughing.

If you know me, you know I love the Gemini Twins of LC. Defteros coming to Awakening is going to make me break my wallet or cause me to kms. I dunno we’ll find out...!!

First hint: https://twitter.com/Shellytheleo/status/1524330513564979201?s=20&t=8-99YUirD4GAvO7WM2Y53Q

First hint, altered audio

Second hint : https://twitter.com/Shellytheleo/status/1525636158654681089?s=20&t=8-99YUirD4GAvO7WM2Y53Q

[straykidsnerd255]

Hello, I didn't see if this was allowed or not in your rules but, if possible, could I ask for a Head-canons of the original gold saints/ or lost canvas, whichever you prefer is fine yandere? 👀

I'm not very good at writing Yandere characters, So I will only do three. Just to test and see how it goes. 

Gemini Kanon:

This man is already psycho. What the hell?!

When he saw you, he KNEW he had to have you.

He would mess with people's minds more than kill them. He would make them fear you and isolate themselves from you.

He would eventually drive you insane to the point you could really only function when you were around him or near him.

He would never harm you physically or emotionally because he loved you so much.

You would be so lost and cut off from reality that you would only smile when Kanon was in the room and become a literal doll when others were around.

Pegasus Tenma:

He lost his mind when he couldn’t save his friends.

When he saw you for the first time years after his friend's death, he knew he had to protect you at all costs. 

He would act all normal like nothing happened to gain your trust before getting you completely blind sided to the rest of the world. 

He hates watching you talk with other people when he is in the same room. He can only see those people taking you from him. 

So, he turns to the one thing that he knows will keep you with him. He kills the people that you talk with.

Murders then when no one is watching. All of it is for you anyway.

Virgo Fudo:

Psycho in general. You saw him in that episode of Saint Seiya Omega. Now just direct that towards you and view it as his love for you. 

Don’t piss him off. He’s not kind in the least, he will carve his name into your arm and make sure that it scars so prettily. 

He will kiss your scared arm and mumble how you will always be his no matter what. 

He will slowly but surely break your mind, where you can not function like a normal person when you are not around him.

This man adores you when you come to him with smiles and turn to a doll when others enter the room. Your smile is reserved for him and only him. Your emotions are for him. Only him.

[kyuremking]

Saint Seiya - Hades Pt. 1

I'm not going to lie, it took me a while to get into it because the first few chapters with Aphrodite and Deathmask acting like B-movie villains, it was terrible. Good thing they died early.

In this saga as in the previous ones I noticed something about the Golden Saints that I didn't like. But I'll save that for the final review.

Throughout the whole saga we can notice that Saga, Camus and Shura are hiding something but they can't say it because they are being watched. But still they show at times that they don't want to do what they are doing.(Their refusal to do Athena's exclamation is the biggest clue).

Shaka's death is heartbreaking(unlike Aldebaran's which we don't even see), Shaka tries to stop the revived ones, tries to make them talk but finally confronts them and uses them to commit suicide and reach the 8th sense. But not before sending a message to Athena.

Kanon's action is fine, the labyrinth of Gemini and allowing Milo to attack him with his Scarlet Spires showed that he was here to fight for Athena.

Aioria, Milo and Mu I have conflicting opinions because their fights are ok, but only that and I always thought they were stronger(Especially Aioria against the Worm guy). Athena's double exclamation isn't as epic as the anime and I still don't know how Shiryu survived.

Athena's suicide makes sense when they finally explain it and I find it hilarious that Athena infiltrated enemy territory without anyone noticing.

The bronze ones were off screen most of the time(with the exception of Shiryu) and I get it because the gold ones needed their moment to shine. (And then die in a pathetic way).

If it wasn't for the vigilance on Saga and the others, the saga would have been different as in the end they were all loyal to Athena and Shion acting as Patriarch even for a short period of time was very touching.

The second deaths of Saga, Camus and Shura are good as they were being treated like crap(I hate that frog) but seriously Deathmask and Aphrodite were completely ruined.

The Bronze awakened the 8th sense or at least Seiya and Shun did and Ikki hasn't appeared in the whole saga.

I liked that Shaina acted like the Silver Saint that she is by giving the orders to burn the bodies in the tombs and that Camus managed to reach absolute Zero after death.(He managed to freeze Shaka's knee).

Shun's pendant came out of nowhere but it's an 80's manga where you had to run a lot to make your story so it's forgivable.

[rigelgre]

This week banner is DC Dohko and Gemini Kanon, that's great, another week to save for Persephone(≡^∇^≡)

[alyrae13]

Gold Saints Job AU Ideas Part 1

Soooo, because I think many others are doing something similar to this and because I literally no other reason to other than ‘I just wanna have fun’, I figured I’d share my ideas as to what the Gold Saints might have as a job because whatever their reason is. Also, this is gonna be another long post, so fair warning, it’s gonna be two parts.

Capricorn Shura

Fencing Instructor- Shura with his connection to swords and being strong yet graceful, I could totally see him as a teacher for fencing; I can just imagine him in proper fencing attire already.

Spanish Teacher- Yep, really original with this one. Shura might be interested in something that deals with his homeland, so I can also see Shura teaching others about the history and language of Spain; I imagine him wearing his glasses while doing this job.

Aquarius Camus

Ski and/or Ice Stake Instructor- Because both have to do with the cold and because both have to do with skill, precision and a touch of grace, Camus would possibly take those as jobs; Also I like the idea of him in ice stakes, pls don’t judge.

French Teacher- Because yeah, if I’m gonna have one of Shura’s jobs as a Spanish teacher, you better be damned if I didn’t have Camus as a French teacher. I also think Camus would take the job as an opportunity to share to others about his culture, so I think it fits; I imagine him teaching while wearing a plaid scarf for some reason? IDFK.

Gemini Saga & Kanon

Saga

Astronomy Teacher- I mean, why not? If his attack deals with plants colliding and what not, it would stand to reason that he would be a teacher in astronomy; Plus we get Professor Saga, so win win.

Mythology Teacher- Other than yea, he works for a Greek goddess, why not, this job might also benefit him because he’ll not only have to know about the Greek and Roman stuff, but also other mythologies as well.

Kanon

Marine Biology Instructor- Kanon must have spent a long time near the oceans, so this job might be an easy fit for him; Plus he could use it to his benefit if Poseidon posses a threat again. Also, he would most likely look damn fine in a wet suit.

Beach Lifeguard- Another ocean related job! Other than being able to save someone because being the other Gemini Saint also requires you to save people, his job is basically like a vacation of sorts so, other than saving people, he can just sit down and relax until his shift’s done; Plus Lifeguard Kanon, imagine the possibilities.

Cancer Deathmask

Coroner and/or Embalmer- Both deal with death and that’s basically Deathmask’s thing, so he would probably take up these jobs if interested. I mean who else would do a better job dealing with the dead than someone who’s literally been at the entrance to the underworld?

Bartender- Dude already drinks like a fish, so why not give him a job that could make others drink just as much? Besides probably already knowing all the ways to serve a drink, Deathmask might also do well with Italian liquor as well; I think a bartender uniform will go great with his goatee.

Pisces Aphrodite

Botanist and/or Toxicologist- HA! YOU PROBABLY THOUGHT I WAS GONNA MAKE HIM A FLORIST, DIDN’T CHA? I think Aphrodite would work well in either field because both fit well with his character; Botanist study plants (Aphro’s ability with plant life) and Toxicologist study poisons (Royal Demon Rose, hello?). Plus it would probably make him more kickass in the long run.

Café Barista- Despite seeming like someone who wouldn’t even go to a coffeehouse, I think Aphrodite would be very interested at working in like a local café making coffee for other people to enjoy. Who knows? He might even get free coffee as one of the benefits.

[madmachaca]

Why didn't Saga look for Kanon after he had killed Shion, framed Aioros as a traitor and took control of the Santuary?

The answer would probably be "because Kanon was not there anymore".

But didn't Kanon stayed days locked up? Amd if we take this scene as reference:

We can tell the conversation between the two were Kanon reveled his master evil plan was AFTER Shion has choosen his successor. I like to imagine tnis conversation took place mainly because Saga came to his brother to tell him the news, and Kanon knew that not-so-deep down Saga wanted that position, he could probably tell his big brother was dissapointed (despite acknowledging Aioros worth), so he shares his plan...and Saga hates it.

Now, I also believe it is very likely that Kanon had an alternative version of the plan with the same overall outcome (Athena's death) parting from the possibility of Saga being choosen, he would probably suggest the infanticide of thr godess soon or later, but since that didn't happen and Aioros is noe the next pope, things change, and if Saga had listen to him, it would have been even better for Kanon.

Because nobody know they were twins, so nobody knew Kanon existed

(Some may argue "of course people knew he existed!! I don't think the Santuary would leep a boy hidden for years!! He just said they didn't now they were twins!!"

They are identical twins. It's very unlikely someone would meet a two people the same age who look exactly alike and be like "oh, I didn't realize you were twins". So I think that if other saints had seen Kanon before, he was likely pretending to be Saga. But I am getting side tracked... back to the post)

If they had followed Kanon's plan and killed Shion so Saga can pose as him, the gemini saint would have never gone missing, because Kanon would have taken his place.so we would have: 1. Saga posing as Shion, 2. Kanon posing as Saga, and (assuming Athena's rescue would go exaclty as it when im canon) 3. Aioros dead and framed as a traitor.

So that could have work, right?

No one could suspect if Saga of Saga was still protecting yhe gemini temple, right?

So, why then, didn't he go and save his younger brother from thay cold, wet cell?

Ideals, probably.

As strong as his evil side is and as much as he made him suffer, Saga was able to keep it in line and actually lead the Santuary well enough so people would respect him, even thought he knew he was doing wrong part of him believe he was right: Athena is a child that couldn't have protect anyone.

Kanon's plan was more classic super villian like "let's kill the pope, Athena, and then take over the world" which is pretty much what Saga did, but he probably thought Kanon wouldn't be satisfied, he would likely want more..

Saga knew Kanon was a potentially great ally, but he also knew he was extremely dangerous, and Saga is the type of person who would leave his feelings aside to fulfill his mission/goals. He locked his brother up because he considered him to be a danger to Athena...and he left him there because he realized he would be a problem to his own plan

[elencelebrindal]

Hey. Do have any headcannons all about the modern day gold saints and lc gold saints and there humors? Like puns or jokes? If you have any of them.

I’m pretty sure their sense of humor, taking into account where and how they grew up, is definitely twisted and/or weird.  The major jokesters are, no doubts: Manigoldo, Dohko, Aldebaran and Rasgado. Maybe Deathmask as well, but he goes for the darkest humor ever, to the point of it being morbidly disturbing. 

Mu, also, is fond of jokes, but he likes pranks way more. Just remember what he did to poor Shiryu, he terrified him to death!

Puns... I am willing to bet Milo is the master of puns. And of dirty jokes. If you tell him something, there’s an 80% chance of him responding with something inappropriate. Milo mastered the art of taking completely normal sentences and turning them into dirty jokes.  This is also the case for Kardia, although he made one too many dirty jokes with Degél and had to stop.

And you know, those puns that make you feel so angry? That’s Aphrodite. Whenever he opens his mouth to unleash a pun, you start feeling that pure rage that makes you want to punch a wall. 

There is, of course, Golds that are unintentionally funny. Puns, jokes... never heard of them. But they are so oblivious that when they inevitably say something funny, or even better make an unintentional dirty joke, everyone starts laughing and keeps laughing at their clueless faces.  I’m talking about El Cid and both our dear Virgo Saints, because come on. It’s so obvious those are the types that would never intentionally make a joke, but they do it anyway without realizing. 

A couple of the most twisted sense of humors, save for Deathmask, can be linked to the lovely Gemini Saints. All four of them. The difference is, Kanon makes a lot more dirty jokes and Saga keeps reinforcing his terrible humor by walking around naked 5 times out of 6.  Aspros and Defteros just try to outsmart each other with morbid puns, and it never ends well for who listens.  Basically, they’re the embodiment of cursed comments. 

As for the rest... well, there’s someone that laughs at everything (looking at you, Aiolos), and someone that never, in any circumstance, laugh (yeah, I’m talking about the beautiful popsicle that’s Camus). Regulus is very much a child, and his sense of humor mirrors that. Aiolia, on the other hand, only laughs at some jokes and hates puns with a passion. 

Shura never shuts up with puns about his sword, and has elicited more than one dejected sigh from his companions. Milo is the only one that pats him on the shoulder and encourages him to continue. 

Shion and Albafica seem uninterested in puns and the likes, but don’t be fooled. Stay locked in a humorous conversation with Albafica for more than 10 minutes, and you’ll be begging for mercy at all the puns he’s able to conjure in the span of one single sentence.  And Shion... if you want to stay safe from pranks, you better pray you’re born in the generation after him, otherwise you’ll be doomed. 

[gemini-athena]

What would Saga do if he didn't commit suicide at the end of Sanctuary arc?

I loved this question and there’s a lot to unpack here, specially taking in account what come directly after Sanctuary, so I will try to be as short and clear as possible, specially since this question already took a long time to answer, so if I feel that something can be further expanded I will do in another post so this one don’t end too gigantic.

I will be also working with the idea that his evil side was “healed” by Athena shield, since the evil side is something that I will discuss later.

To begin I will go over his relationship with Sanctuary and himself, whit is not good, after all that happened Saga is in all time low, he genuinely believes that he killed his own brother, his possible best friend and father figure, and let’s not talk about killing so many innocent people and trying to kill Athena and betraying all he had believed his hole life, if he have not killed himself he is at least in a very self destructive state, his relationship with Sanctuary would not help either, because half of Sanctuary hates him because he was a traitor, the rest although could have pity towards him, since he too was a victim of the Other( the Evil Side) would not be an better too, they would be at least cold.

In personal relationships, the people he would get along better would be Athena and the bronze saints, since they would be more open to him, specially Seiya and Shun, Hyoga would be colder but not hostile.

Other than that I can very well see Saga isolating himself as much as he can, or burying himself in work( his duty as a saint), wich brings to the next point I don’t see him still being the pope, or at least not out of his own will, he will absolutely prefer to going back just being the Gemini Saint.

The one duty I can see him prioritizing is protecting Athena itself, he would volunteer himself to be her personal bodyguard, just like Sysiphos in TLC, what will not seen well by Sanctuary but Athena would one hundred percent agree.

What would not only put a gold saint in Asgard and Poseidon battles it can also change a lot there.

In Asgard I cannot give so much details since is my least liked arc of the series so I don’t remember that much of this part, but one thing I know is that he would have the fight whit the twins there, I can just imagine that he would notice the second twin way earlier than Ikki did, also since they have a similar backstory this could be a amazing moment for character development, I just can see Saga saying something along the lines “You shouldn’t hate you brother for having to live in his Shadow, I’m sure he would do anything to help you have you place in the world, well I know that’s what I would do if I had another chance.”

About Poseidon, Saga present would change to much, just remember who was pulling the strings, although it can also affect Asgard too, if it is the manga since he would be close to Athena is very well possible that Sanctuary would know about the Marines before Thetis appears.

There’s also two scenarios I can see happening, one he don’t go to Atlantis two he goes there, either way a lot would change.

If he stays at Sanctuary, Kanon would send a attack to Sanctuary in order to eliminate Saga, remember that he believe he hates his brother at this point, this would make the other gold saints fight too, I think this te least likely scenario to happen however.

The one I find more likely is that he goes, I just cannot see him not going both for his personality and his powers, not that I think he is more powerful but I think is really hard to keep someone from fleeing if this person can become invisible and teleporting if he wants to go he will go.

He going there would also change a lot, again because Kanon, and the first thing that would change is that he would recognize him very earlier and he would be the one to fight him, this would be a very heavy fight in question of feelings, remember that Saga thinks that Kanon is dead until this fight.

I see flashbacks, lots of yelling, some tears, both going back and forth in winning, in short this is more a emotional fight between brothers than one about the end of the world, I believe that in the end he would still recognize that Athena saved him in cape sunion, and his redemption arc ensues.

More or less the ending of the battle would be mostly the same, with Poseidon awakening and fighting Athena, and whit Kanon putting himself before Poseidon attack. Whit would lead not only tho his own redemption arc but also set ground for Saga and Kanon reconciliation, which I cannot imagine not happening.

Another thing that I should remember but didn’t find a place to put this one thing, Saga probably know a lot more about Sanctuary than many other people, he was in Star Hill after all, and Saga would not be shy to talk about it if it’s necessary, it maybe could mean that we could see Athena Cloth even earlier than before.

[hxdrostorms]

TITLE: Flaws, Strengths, and Hobbies

bold what applies to your muse; italicize what applies to your muse sometimes or to a certain extent.

𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐖𝐒. moody | short-tempered | emotionally unstable | whiny | controlling | conceited | possessive | paranoid | liar | impatient | cowardly | bitter | selfish | power-hungry | greedy | lazy | judgemental | forgetful | impulsive | spiteful | stubborn | sadistic | petty | unlucky | absent-minded | vindictive | aggressive | childish | callous | clingy | delusional | cocky | competitive | corrupt | cynical | cruel | depressed | deranged | egotistical | envious | insecure | insensitive | lustful | delinquent | over-thinker | guilt complex | reclusive | reckless | nervous | perfectionist | pessimistic | naive

𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐇𝐒. honest | good teacher | thoughtful | brave | patient | selfless | ambitious | natural leader | lucky | intelligent | confident | humble | generous | merciful | observant | wise | clever | charming | cheerful | optimistic | decisive | adaptive | calm | protective | proud | diligent | charismatic | compassionate | good sportsmanship | friendly | empathetic | passionate | reliable | resourceful | sensible | sincere | witty | funny

𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐈𝐄𝐒. art | acting | astronomy | animals |archery | sports | fashion design | bird watching | blacksmithing | boating | calligraphy | camping | activism | piloting / flying | ceramics | racing | chess | music | cooking | crochet | weaving | sewing | exercise | swordplay | fishing | gardening | ghost hunting | ice skating | magic | engineering | building | inventing | martial arts | meditation | origami | parkour | people watching | swimming | puppetry | pyrotechnics | quilting | collecting | shopping | socialising | storytelling | writing | traveling | archival research | singing | yoga | gaming | surfing | knitting | knife throwing

𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐖𝐒. moody | short-tempered | emotionally unstable | whiny | controlling | conceited | possessive | paranoid | liar | impatient | cowardly | bitter | selfish | power-hungry | greedy | lazy | judgemental | forgetful | impulsive | spiteful | stubborn | sadistic | petty | unlucky | absent-minded | vindictive | aggressive | childish | callous | clingy | delusional | cocky | competitive | corrupt | cynical | cruel | depressed | deranged | egotistical | envious | insecure | insensitive | lustful | delinquent | over-thinker | guilt complex | reclusive | reckless | nervous | perfectionist | pessimistic | naive

𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐇𝐒. honest | good teacher | thoughtful | brave | patient | selfless | ambitious | natural leader | lucky | intelligent | confident | humble | generous | merciful | observant | wise | clever | charming | cheerful | optimistic | decisive | adaptive | calm | protective | proud | diligent | charismatic | compassionate | good sportsmanship | friendly | empathetic | passionate | reliable | resourceful | sensible | sincere | witty | funny

𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐈𝐄𝐒. art | acting | astronomy | animals |archery | sports | fashion design | bird watching | blacksmithing | boating | calligraphy | camping | activism | piloting / flying | ceramics | racing | chess | music | cooking | crochet | weaving | sewing | exercise | swordplay | fishing | gardening | ghost hunting | ice skating | magic | engineering | building | inventing | martial arts | meditation | origami | parkour | people watching | swimming | puppetry | pyrotechnics | quilting | collecting | shopping | socialising | storytelling | writing | traveling | archival research | singing | yoga | gaming | surfing | knitting | knife throwing

Feel free to steal it!

[rla1994]

Chapter 10, yes I am still alive.

Hey, guys! I know it has been a really looooong time but here is the next part of the story. I’ll have more free time from now on so expect the next chapter soon. (I hope ^^’)

I don’t own anything.

One more thing : it is not beta read.

Enjoy~~

“Well, well. Look who’s here? Have you come to defeat me? Was being cast out of Heaven not enough for you?” The sentence was punctuated by maniacal laughter. Kanon did not reply, instead he readied the knife and raised his arms prepared to fight this monster who had taken over his brother. 

The other copied him and called forth his armor -Saga’s armor- it was made of gold and looked somewhat like his; if only for the different parts that made it. His shoulders and knees were covered and along with the two golden bands on his upper arms, it offered more protection than his. His enemy was also holding the helmet in his left hand. The helmet was simple except for the red ruby on its forehead, the Gemini logo engraved in its center. Kanon didn’t call forth his. The entity didn’t know about it. He would be surprised when he’d see it and perhaps it would give the fallen an advantage. 

“Enough talk.” Blue eyes narrowed. “Leave my brother’s body or prepare to die.” 

The other only smirked. He rushed forward his left arm pulled back, fist ready.  

Kanon dodged, jumping away. His opponent followed barely giving him time to react. His enemy might have Saga's body and strength but Kanon had been dodging blows since he was but a child. He could do it all day long.

"What's wrong? Too afraid to hurt your dear older brother?" The entety nagged.

"You are not my brother. And you will leave his body."

His eyes dark with rage Kanon lunged at his twin. His knife slashed a fine red line across his neck. A single drop left the wound, running down to stain the top of the armor. Kanon reeled back, hands trembling. He gritted his teeth. He had played right into his game.

Poseidon's general took deep breaths in order to clam down. When his hands were steady again, he focused back on the fight.

He needed to concentrate. He had to hit the other precisely in his heart. If he missed...

No he wouldn't. He wouldn't let Saga die. Not after everything he'd done. He would save him even if he had to die to do it. Saga deserved it.

The fight stayed balanced for some time. Neither side winning, but neither side losing.

Rhadamantys woke up to a cold bed. His eyes flew open. He stood up, looked around. The room was empty. There was no sound coming from the bathroom. He was alone. Kanon was gone. He had left.

The judge trembled. Did he really mean that little to him? He had admitted his feelings, had given himself to Kanon. Only for him to just leave after it was done?

He shook his head and looked once again around the room. It was the same as the night before, if you didn't count the turned over nightstand and clothes all over the floor. It had been a wild night.

He gathered his clothes moving to the bathroom.

As he passed by the windows, he noticed the dark sky outside. He frowned. When they had fallen asleep it had been night. There was no way he slept for twelve hours.

Looking more attentively, he realised what he was seeing was, in fact, not the sky.

He opened the windows and stepped onto the balcony. His eyes opened wide. The room was floating in a dark place.

Where was he?

Kanon slashed and missed. He growled. He had to admit : the other knew how best to use Saga's body.

"You won't be able to kill me, Kanon! I killed Athena! I killed a goddess! A mere being like you cannot kill me!" It was sickening to hear his brother's voice say that. If only he would stop moving like that!

The sun was beginning to shine. Morning was already here. He had to hurry up. He needed to end this now!

Rhadamanthys was not panicking. He was one of the three judges of the Underworld, the general of Lord Hades' army, one of the strongest celestial beings out there. He was not panicking!

He paced around the room. Why had Kanon sent him here? It was obviously him. No one else had the power to. Well maybe Saga, but he didn't even know where they were.

So why?

Okay, calm down. There had to be some clue. He searched for clues in the room. Anything that was there, that wasn't there the night before. He searched and searched.

The only 'suspicious' thing he found was a small petal-filled bottle. He examined the petals carefully. They were asphodel petals! How had Kanon acquired them? He wondered. And then he remembered. Kanon had taken Aiacos's memories. Maybe these were his memories. He should release them.

He hesitated. Should he? He shook his head again. Of course he should! He owned it to his brother to give him back his memories. His true memories.

But why were there so many?

It didn't matter. What mattered was his brother.

He took the lid of the bottle and slowly lifted it. He ever so slowly turn it over, letting the petals flutter down to the ground. Before they could touch the ground though, they disappeared in a small white light.

Kanon was struggling. It seems he had underestimated his opponent. He spat blood out of his mouth. His left arm was broken. He had burns all over his body from not Saga's attacks -he didn't know how else to call him- and was physically exhausted. He needed to finish this fight now!

His opponent seemed to be too strong. Even the reveal of Kanon's armour hadn't changed much.

He painfully stood up. Legs trembling and body aching all over. But still, his determination kept him going.

"Still standing?" The oh so familiar voice nagged."You should just give up. You can't beat me, Kanon."

"Then I will die trying."

His twin smirked and raised his arms. Kanon braced himself for an attack... that never came.

He didn't hesitate. He grabbed his knife and, flying in close, plunged it right in Saga's heart.

He didn't know why the other had stopped but he wasn't going to complain.

"H-h-how? What did you do?"

Kanon looked at his brother-not him, he was still possessed. He didn't understand what the other meant. He had killed him. Could he not see feel the knife in him?

"I was sure I killed her."

And then, Kanon understood. No. He didn't. It was impossible.

He could not have regained the memories Kanon replaced. He had made sure to keep the bottle somewhere safe. Somewhere only he could go.

Somewhere he put Rhadamanthys to prevent him from interfering.

Shit, shit, shit. He did not do that. Well he obviously did, considering what was happening.

Kanon shook his head, took a deep breath and pulled out the urn. He recited the few verse needed for the seal to activate and.... pouf Saga was back to normal. If bleeding to death was normal.

Kanon was about to heal him when he heard dozens of footsteps coming their way. Knowing Saga was in good hands, he used his remaining energy to teleport away.

And that's it folks!

I apologise again for being soooooo late.^^'

For the people who read it on ao3, I will not post it there because I plan to use that "version" as a better version. Meaning when I'm done with the story, I'll edit and rewrite it and then post it on ao3.

So long now. I hope you enjoyed it.

[arcgeminga]

@goldenlightofhope​ -- Athena Sasha to Gemini Defteros

“Defteros…”

Everything has happened so quickly. Just a few months ago, Aspros had tried to assassinate the Pope, however, the Pope and Asmita knew of his plans and stopped him. She was only told about this a few days after. Defteros who was unfortunately controlled by his brother got free and killed his brother to save the Pope. Since there was no Gemini saint now, Defteros was the new Gemini saint. He was immediately given the title and cloth and he quickly left to Kanon Island before Sasha could even speak with him. Now that he was back in the Sanctuary temporarily, she could finally speak to him.

“I hope you have been well.”

♛┊ It’s been the first time in a couple of months since the last time he came out of Kanon Island. As soon as he defeated the Specter residing in the volcano, he took the role of the ‘Demon’ and lived in the wilderness of that island for a little over six months.

It was an extremely rough adjustment, living alone in the wilderness... but after being coached by Regulus a few times, Defteros was thriving.

...well, “thriving”. More like surviving. Or barely. He may have had just a few little escapes after he found several mushrooms on the island. Especially on his birth month. If he could hallucinate Aspros with him, he would do that every day if he could. Too bad Dégel severely scolded him after that fiasco of a ‘birthday’ that first full month of isolation. He had to keep off those things for nearly two months to avoid another scolding (and, plus, he was rattled with the threat of Kardia’s Scarlet Needle. Like hell he’ll suffer that...)

So, aside from the visits from Regulus, Dégel, and, rarely, Sisyphus, Defteros was left to himself on Kanon Island. Which was fine. After sobering up and actually looking after himself, Defteros became accustomed to life in the wild. After all, humans were an extremely adaptable species.

Which is why it was extremely weird to be surrounded by humans again. Like a wolf prowling unsafe grounds, Defteros found himself keeping a close eye on the men around him--untrusting and ready to defend himself. Deep inside, though, he knew that it was silly to be on the defensive. He was above all of these foot solders in regard to sheer strength. Only the foolish would charge at a beast. And, luckily, they recognized that he was the newly appointed Gold Saint even if he left the Gemini Cloth in Kanon Island to self-repair. Some of the soldiers stared as if they never saw a shirtless man before... (Pathetic whelps.)

Defteros avoided going up the temples to the Papal chambers. He followed old underground and hidden routes when he found one of his favorite entrances and quietly exited it from a double-sided mirror somewhere within the Pope’s chambers. He’s been to the top of the mountain once--when Aspros had controlled him with the Demon Emperor Fist... Once was all he needed to map out the temple.

After passing the grand alabaster doors into The Hall, the beast of a man strutted across the crimson carpet until he stopped to offer a brief bow to the sitting Goddess.

♛┊ “I pray the Goddess Athena is in good health?” Defteros’ voice had alarmingly roughened from his constant roaring in attempts to intimidate poachers. He has been trying to keep his screeching to a minimum since the day Regulus harshly scolded him and then nursed him back to decent health after the kid walked into the volcano during a very unflattering moment a month ago.

To relieve the scratch, the Gemini Saint turned his head and coughed into his hand before he returned his attention to Sasha. “I’ve been in questionable health in the beginning of my isolation, but I’m fine. Is there any urgent reason for the summon?”

He wasn’t against idle chatting--after all, socialization help keep the death-harboring loneliness away... However, Defteros really couldn’t talk for too long unless he wanted to be forced to keep his mouth shut for an entire week again...which he didn’t, honestly. Those poachers back home were annoyingly persistent if there was no one to scare them.

[psychoblue9]

More Tokusatsu AU craziness, here’s Violent Athena!  This would be towards the climatic finale of the series...

Saori Kido, heir to the financial empire known as the Graude Foundation, was adopted by Mitsumasa Kido as an infant after the wounded Aries Mu and the dying Sagittarius Aiolos teleported to his mansion’s doorstep with her in tow.  While Aiolos could not be saved, Mu told Mitsumasa that the baby was the reincarnation of Athena and needed to be protected at all costs.  He also told Mitsumasa that the reason they teleported to his estate was that the baby’s mother told Mu that if something were to happen to her, the Kido family would where to go.  

Meanwhile in Sanctuary’s headquarters in the outskirts of Athens, the newly crowned Pope Arles cursed his weakness and entered deep thought.  The baby Athena was not like previous incarnations of their treasured goddess.  Born to the Angel Bilquis and the Gold Saint Aries Mu after a tryst that formed following the two Pantheons joining forces to seal away the treacherous “Lord of Hell” Lucifer, this new baby had the potential to totally unravel whatever hold Sanctuary had over the remaining Pantheons.  When Arles, back then known as the leader of the Gold Saints “Gemini Saga, attempted to tell Pope Shion, he discovered Shion using forbidden arts in an attempt to create artificial Spectres.  The constant stream of blasphemy caused Saga to lose control of his better half, and in a rage Saga slew Shion and took his place in an attempt to “right the wrongs.”

As his rage abated, Saga realized in horror what he had done and quickly set out to discover what Shion had been up to.  As it turned out, Shion was attempting to reverse engineer the “Specterism” plague that befell Sanctuary during the previous Holy War of the 18th Century.  Saga had walked into the final testing stages that would turn a possessed human back into their former self.  Shion had left enough of his notes for Saga to complete the cure, and quickly put the experiment to rest.  Saga decided that he would honor his former Pope by finishing what he started and reclaim Sanctuary’s glory.

After allowing the child prodigy Hornet Milo to kill Bilquis, whom Arles poisoned with dark energy so that she appeared to have gone mad, he attempted to poison the baby Athena, as well.  The goal was simply to present the possessed Athena to his former comrades and cure her in order to boost his cult of personality among the other Pantheons.  Aiolos walked in by happenstance, and in the struggle he learned Arles’ true identity.  Saga quickly overpowered his former comrade and ordered his death when Aiolos snatched Athena from her crib and brought her to Mu.

Finding Athena was easy enough for Arles, who could sense her Holy Cosmo all across the planet, but it was pointless to go after her now.  The window had passed, and he needed to ensure that Sanctuary would not suspect him for foul play.  As he gathered his allies and removed those who may one day rise against him, an even grander scheme formed in his mind.  Perhaps Athena being born of an Angel and a Gold Saint was not a blasphemy, but a blessing in disguise.  When she reached maturity and awakened to her true self, Athena would possess the most powerful vessel ever.  It might even one day surpass the height of Athena’s divine flesh prior to the end of the Age of Myth.

If this vessel could be that powerful...perhaps it would be possible for it to become a vessel for another entity.

19 years later, Saori Kido awakened and her godly Cosmo was felt all across the world.  It would signal a months long campaign for Sanctuary to reclaim the “ripened” Athena from the traitors who whisked her away.  Mu, who had adopted the identity of billionaire weapons developer and head of Graude Foundation’s R&D Division “Mutsuki Zeto,” had prepared two teams to meet Arles’ assault: the noble “Zodiac Knights” led by Pegasus Seiya who fought to protect all innocent life from Sanctuary’s tyranny, and the unrelenting “Zodiac Horde” led by Unicorn Jabu whose sole purpose was to protect Saori and inflict harm upon anyone who put her at risk.

During the conflict, Arles discovered that the Knights’ Andromeda Shun was the vessel for Hades.  Under the advice of his twin brother Kanon, who was now acting as his kagemusha for the Gemini Cloth, Arles waited for Pisces Aphrodite to repot the successful assassination of longtime Sanctuary target Pandora Heinstein, and sent him to Japan for his next mission.  As Aphrodite headed to Japan, Kanon sent a message to Siren Sorrento under the “Sea Dragon” codename that the time had come to awakening their secret God Poseidon.

On the surface, it appeared that Saori’s protector and old childhood sweetheart Julian Solo and her trusted Saint Andromeda Shun were going to be pitted against one another with the hopes that one angry God killed the other.  Shun had been forcibly awakened as Hades with a dart laced with Pandora’s blood, and Julian through the vase containing Poseidon’s seal soul being undone by Sorrento.  Because neither possession was natural, the hold of them was not absolute, and the Zodiac Knights were able to restore their teammate by sealing Hades’ soul within the now-empty vase.  Sorrento volunteered to ensure the vase would not fall into the wrong hands, but two days later Julian discovered his body with no vase in sight.

In reality, Sanctuary had planned this chain of events from the beginning.  Kanon had acquired the Sea Dragon moniker from Sorrento’s late father, whom he had killed to cover his tracks that his “youthful romantic indiscretions” with the fiance of the Solo Shipping Conglamerate’s heir resulted in the birth of Poseidon’s next vessel.  He was imprisoned by his brother when Shion got word of this, but now it was an avenue of Arles’ greatest triumph.  Because he was fathered by a Gemini Saint, it meant that his possession would be a split dichotomy instead of a gradual transformation like Saori into Athena.  This gave the Knights a chance to reason with Julian and work together to stop Hades.  

Now Hades’ soul was sealed entirely within the vase, and Arles quickly went to work on the next phase of the plan as Aphrodite returned to Sanctuary with the vase in tow.  Arles withdrew his troops from Japan and accepted Saori’s proposition for a final showdown.  Three weeks later, Saori and the Zodiac Knights arrived at the Aries Temple, where they were immediately ambushed by 500 of Sanctuary’s best soldiers.  In the conflict, Saori was wounded by an arrow, and Arles telepathically challenged the Zodiac Knights to conquer the 12 Houses if they wished to save her.

As the Knights marched up the temple, the Gold Saints still loyal to Athena hurried to the Aries Temple in an attempt to stop the venom that had entered his bloodstream.  As the final temple was cleared, Libra Dohko had successfully nullified the arrow’s venom, but in doing so sealed the fate of himself, Scorpio Milo, and Taurus Aldebaran.  The venom was only a decoy, a medicine that kept Saori’s soul pure from the true purpose of the arrow.  The reality was that the arrow contained the entirety of Hades’ soul, warped by Arles’ Judeccan Sorcery to be more susceptible to consumption by Saori.

The dark wave of violent intent was felt all the way in the Pope’s Sanctum, where Aries Mu and his protege Knights were on the cusp of victory against the fearsome duo of the Gemini Twins.  Realizing that he would likely never have a chance to admit to Saori that he was so much more to her than just her mentor, Mu used his Starlight Extinction to teleport the Knights as far down the Temple stairs as he could muster.  As for himself, Mu opened a portal to the crawlspace between realities known as “the Void,” and let nothingness swallow himself and the Gemini Twins before they could stop the Knights.

Back at the foot of the Aries Temple, the Zodiac Horde finally arrived to provide reinforcements, but realized it might already be too late.  Instead of Athena taming Hades’ soul with her purity as Saga had hoped, instead the two souls fused together into something new and twisted.  Dohko, Milo, and Aldebaran had been reduced to bloody slush, and in place of the Nike Staff was the Sword of Kers.  Once hailed as a Goddess of Righteous War, Saori Kido had instead turned into an entity of Ultimate Punishment, triggered by even the slightest scent of moral decay.

As the smell of humanity’s sin entered her nostrils, Saori Kido reached for her blade and prepared to begin her judgment of her charges.  Athena had been reborn, and nothing would ever be the same again...

[oopsbirdficced]

Fanfic ask but not a lettered fanfic ask - do you have any advice on how to get into the heads of the Gold Saints (for example, the Gemini twins) when you want to write them? Thank you in advance for any advice you can give :D

So! I've been sitting on this one for a while because I wanted to give you a good answer!

My number one advice is practice. I know it sounds dumb, I know everyone says it, but it does genuinely help. I have a lot of stuff that never actually sees my Ao3 page, or even here on tumblr! I also RP a lot with my husband- he's the only one I RP with though. Still, reading a lot of stuff will also give you windows into how other people view and represent the characters.

Second piece of advice is to look at the source material. For your example, let's take the Gemini twins. Let's take them at the pivotal moments of their character arcs, when they repent for the wrongs they have done.

Saga is very soft. He cries and then, while asking forgiveness, he commits suicide. This means, to me, that he doesn't think forgiveness is actually an option for himself. He lets despair consume him utterly. Saga has depression, he feels consuming guilt, and he can't pull himself back out of it. So, his character is gentle and soft, but also geared towards maybe a more black and white mentality.

Kanon on the other hand, is sassy. He wants forgiveness, yes, and he's fully prepared to die at Milo's hand if that's what Milo decides he deserves. But he also goads Milo. He asks questions, especially when Milo saves his life. He wants to know what Milo saw in him worthy of redemption, and its easy to extrapolate that he wants to know what it is so that he can work towards it. So that he can become worthy of his salvation. His character is tenacious, he's a sasspants, he wants to work to his redemption.

The big difference between the Gemini Twins is that Saga gives up in this moment, and Kanon hangs on.

Now, this also plays into whether or not you take some of Kurumada's weirder worldbuilding into account. I pick and choose from canon, because some of what Kurumada made up in canon makes no sense to me. So really, you just need to pick your own comfort level there, and realize that Death Of The Author really will set you free. You dont have to be bound by an exact version of canon, but canon will help you construct these characters in your writing.

[nahret]

It Takes Two

I’ll be honest: I have not been looking forward to Dui’s story, which is why I let it lie for so long. On the surface, there is obviously nothing wrong with Dui, quite the contrary. He is by far the kindest god of the entire bunch, a quiet person who genuinely cares about his friends and the MC. But I’m not new to the Japanese approach to mythology, and there is one thing that is simply a given: the Gemini sign will always have the evil twin and/or split personality problem. Always.

My favourite anime show, Saint Seiya, managed to combine both concepts: Saga, gold saint of Gemini, did not only have a dark side within himself, but also an actual evil twin brother, Kanon. Now, in Saint Seiya, Saga was (and is) my most beloved gold saint, and in terms of favourite character, second only to Phoenix Ikki. But what I’m looking for in an action show is radically different from what I’m looking for in a romance story, and a split personality is pretty high on my List of Nope.

  Saga’s split personality

Saga and Kanon

In everybody else’s route, Dui is depicted as a soft-spoken, friendly god who has everybody’s best interest at heart. As sweet as he is, I expect his evil twin to be all-out evil. And while I know that a story needs an antagonist, and that a fair amount of drama is to be expected, I really prefer enemies that are not, you know, oneself.

Okay. I’m sure everything will come up roses in the end. Let’s have a look.

Synopsis

This time, the choice makes sense: when the MC falls off that roof, she calls upon the kindest of the gods she has encountered, Dui. He catches her and teleports her to the mansion. He is nice to her, and concerned for her well-being. When the other gods arrive, he tells them not to scare the MC.

Alone in his room, however, he suddenly hugs the MC, much to her surprise. He is gentle and playful, and he smells amazing… And the MC’s heart is just about leaping out of her chest. But surely, he doesn’t mean anything by it? He is an exceedingly kind god; when there is a disturbance in her apartment complex, he offers to stay in her room to watch over her while she sleeps. Without the ulterior motives Ichthys or Teo would certainly have in this particular situation.

Things proceed as usual. Since the MC needs to be present for Dui to do his job in the Department of Punishments, she helps him cast his punishments by the reflecting pool. When he hands her a piece of paper, she cuts her finger on it. The tiniest bit of blood is visible – and here we meet Shadow Dui.

Look at this innocence.

Shadow Dui is, of course, the Evil Twin. His existence was hinted at by the other gods, especially Scorpio and Ichthys. Shadow Dui takes a dim view of the MC and her “meddling” in Dui’s life. In no time flat, he decides to find a definitive solution for this problem and attempts to drown her in the pool. Just as the MC is about to hit the water, though, Shadow Dui falls to the ground, unconscious. This is when Scorpio and Ichthys show up, who take Dui up to his room, and explain the situation to the MC. Apparently, something severe happened with Dui, and his shadow personality was created. Clearly, it must have something to do with the great sin that got Dui exiled to earth in the first place…

Of course, once he comes to his senses, normal Dui urges the MC to stay away from him, as it’s far too dangerous for her to risk triggering the shadow self. Naturally, the MC, already in love with Dui, refuses. She intends to make him whole again, instead. The next time Shadow Dui appears, the MC is actually sensing that she is making a kind of headway: Shadow Dui exists to protect normal Dui, whom he considers a weakling. He will go to any lengths to keep normal Dui safe. In the meantime, however, he will help Dui with his work, replacing the soft punishments the latter had devised with, basically, horror and mayhem. Yet again, it takes Scorpio’s and Ichthys’ intervention to stop Shadow Dui before he kills the MC. Scorpio tells her to stay away from Dui in the future, but she can obviously not give up on him.

Epilogue

Ugh, mom, I don’t wanna, do I have to? Well. I guess I already bought the epilogue (for all the stories, for the sake of consistency), so I might as well read it. But if the main story is anything to go by, I won’t have much fun with it.

Quite typically, we’re at this juncture where the MC and the god of choice are together, but haven’t had sex yet. Partheno is the notable exception to this rule, and his purpose was nefarious. Things being as they are here, Dui and the MC have not done the deed, but the other gods don’t know that. Teo’s and Ikky’s wild speculations and inquiries on what it’s like between a human and a god make our MC blush furiously, of course. Ichthys’ assertion that Dui can tie cherry stems into knots with his tongue are not helpful. Oh, not normal knots; heart-shaped knots. Our besotted couple ends up fleeing the scene.

They decide to take a day trip to a cherry orchard together – cherries are Dui’s favourite food – where the MC realises that she really has two boyfriends, in a way. While Dui and Shadow Dui now get along and can apparently communicate with each other, they do not share the same memories. After repeatedly confusing the two, the MC walks away to clear her head and promptly gets lost in the orchard. After the mini-crisis is resolved, there is the usual hemming and hawing about being naked together, because of course she wants it, but cannot bring herself to admit it. It’s tedious. At least Shadow Dui talks the straight talk. There’s sure more chemistry here than in the main story.

The Chemistry

Dui is everything we’re looking for in a person: sweet, considerate, thoughtful, polite, not to mention quite handsome, as they all are. How is one not to fall in love with him? One very positive aspect is that the confession comes early on, and from his part. There is much emphasis on his purity and innocence, and it’s actually lovely. What follows, though, is the MC being far too lenient with Shadow Dui’s behaviour, especially once she concludes that he must be “misunderstood” because he’s only trying to protect Dui. Which means that she starts taking crazy-stupid risks in order to save them both, of course.

My man Scorpio is in control of the situation.

Everything is kind of predictable: she falls in love with him, because he’s really easy to love. He falls in love with her, because the story demands it. Shadow Dui is evil, but is he really? Must he not be redeemable somehow? Scorpio is being Scorpio, Ichthys is being Ichthys, and they’re both really good at it. At chapter 10, I was wondering when Zyglavis was gonna drop by. And the King. Then Zyglavis makes an appearance. And the King.

And yet, there’s no… I don’t know. No palpable, chemistry, if you will. It’s all telling, no showing. In other stories, there was a rawness of emotion about the characters, that I feel is completely missing here – except where Shadow Dui shows up. And that’s just not enough.

The Love Meter

I suspected as much: I couldn’t get out of the Forbidden zone. Really, I’m not surprised. Sometimes, characters just aren’t for me. But sometimes I chose the answer that I really thought would push the needle back into Blessed, only to have it go deeper into Forbidden. I guess I should have been more accepting of Shadow Dui, but I have trouble getting into people who are repeatedly trying to murder me with their bare hands.

Bottom Line

I’ll be honest: it took me eternities to finish this story. Not only was I not really engaged, I also find this trope a bit more problematic for me personally than a lot of others. That’s because we see a lot of that in real life: women who stay with abusive men for the times when they are treated nicely, or to save the men in question, or both. Now, I know, here it is not within Dui’s control when Shadow Dui appears. I know. It’s just not a trope I enjoy. Also, Scorpio blaming the victim is not my favourite thing, even if it is in keeping with his personality. Apart from the above, I just have to admit I didn’t really feel it, if you know what I mean. Yes, Dui is super nice, and loyal to a fault. (No, really. You have no idea.) But there is not enough friction there that is not Shadow Dui. Look, I’m gonna say it: this was boring. Not out-of-my-mind boring, but just not interesting. Pity.

Star-Crossed Myth: Dui It Takes Two I'll be honest: I have not been looking forward to Dui's story, which is why I let it lie for so long.