#( balthasar interactions. )

[selfaware-promise-au]

I love how you’re making your self aware blogs, and including zzz too! If you’re taking requests, can I request reader trying to lay low in self aware zzz? Key word, trying lol

What is your mission in Honkai World? - Build good relationships and investigate.

What is your mission in Teyvat? - Build good relationships and investigate.

What is your mission in New Eridu? - Find out what was the Perversion's reason for creating an apocalyptic world. And "they tried to speedrun an evolution" is not an answer we want to hear, but thanks for the input, Silver Wolf. And don't forget to build a good relationship and investigate. And let's hope it's not an evolution thing.

With a goal in mind, a bag of dennies in one hand, a key to a small apartment in another, you started your first trip in New Eridu.

~~~•••~~~

You knew, that you weren't the only descendant of Tyrant's experiments. There are a lot of them. You were lucky enough to have something in you, that got Aletheia's attention and earned you the title of her and his champion. Together, you will fight against the tyrant.

You knew that there was another group of fighters. One that was led by Balthasar. The one who centuries ago got one of your ancestors on Earth.

You were discouraged from interacting with him or one of his.

"Balthasar is stubborn. He can't comprehend the thought of losing track of descendants. That silly, mindless beast. Please, be careful around him."

You didn't seek them on purpose. But one day, when you were investigating Hollow, you met eye to eye with one of his.

Ashley Roberts... You could faintly remember her. You met her a few times on the campus, back on Earth.

The girl didn't look anything like you. But, the way you two could navigate through the Hollows, the way you two could heal Corrupted... It was clear as day who exactly two of you were.

The next day you were wanted in New Eridu.

Balthasar didn't want to believe he lost someone. So, you must be a fake. And you should be caught.

~~~•••~~~

That was your life now. Stay in shadows, trying not to get caught. Life became mostly annoying, then hard.

You were allowed to stay in New Eridu with only one order.

If Perversion find out about her or you, immediately leave New Eridu and return to Earth.

If you got noticed, you could easily prance towards the nearest Hollow and hide here.

Like now. You were lying on your back on the roof of one of the swollen buildings in the Hollow, when you heard noises.

Looking down, you saw a familiar group.

Cunning Hares were searching for someone.

You didn't think they were looking for you. Nicole, surprisingly, wasn't interested in catching you and getting a reward.

You thought for a moment. Today, Etherials in the area were more aggressive than usual.

You should probably help.

You get down without Cunning Hares noticing.

~~~•••~~~

Nicole wonders if they got hit by a spirit of luck.

Etherials weren't bothering them, all locked mechanisms were open. The task of fetching lost materials was as easy as a walk in the park.

She should buy some lottery tickets later.

~~~•••~~~

Wise and Belle couldn't understand. Fairy and Eous couldn't understand.

Hollow was too easy. Too silent. Hollows are supposed to be dangerous. Even if someone walked here before them, new Etherials still would have returned there.

They should be cautious.

~~~•••~~~

A few days ago, you helped Cunning Hares in a Hollow. Today, you (in disguise), were shopping.

You got good at disguises. You even managed to bump into Cunning Hares near the shopping center entrance without them recognizing you.

~~~•••~~~

Your shopping bag was heavier than it should be.

You carefully opened it.

On top of things you bought, there was a plastic box with two hamburgers.

There was a note.

"Thanks for the help, Nicole's Spirit of Luck. Anby"

A small smile appeared on your face.

You were still wanted. But as long as you can help people, there is no need for gratitude or gifts. You were fine as long as others were safe.

[francesderwent]

How do I apply for a good Thomist interaction licence?

the real answer is you're my friend so you get a blanket exemption from the DNI.

the funny answer:

Are you a Thomist (derogatory) or a Thomist (affectionate)?

Have you ever unironically stated that society would be better if everyone simply read Thomas? if yes, -1 point. if no, 0 points. if you're more likely to say this about some other thinker, +1 point.

When was the last time you casually referenced a non-Thomas thinker? (it cannot be Aristotle or the catechism, either, it has to be something not so neatly systematized.) if less than three weeks, +1 point! if more than three weeks, -1 point. if you haven't casually referenced any thinkers in five weeks, 0 points.

How much of the Summa do you own? the whole thing, -1 point (because I'm jealous). specific important sections, +1 point. none of it, 0 points.

How do you handle Thomas being wrong? if "I am looking away I do not see it", -1 point. if "Thomas is neither divinely inspired nor infallible and his sainthood and his value as a theologian are not in question because he didn't get everything right", +1 point. if "oh worm?", 0 points.

Are there multiple valid applications of Thomas's theology? if no, only what the Dominicans are doing, -1 point. if yes, thinkers like Maritain and Balthasar can be considered to be validly interpreting Thomas, +1 point. if you don't bother with any secondary sources you just read Thomas and try to interpret him yourself, 0 points.

What do you make of the structure of the Summa (objections, sed contra, I answer that, responses to the objections)? if the clarity allows us to rest in certainty, -1 point. if the clarity is a starting place which draws boundaries which allow us to think more deeply and enter more fully into the infinite mystery, +1 point. if it's annoying, 0 points.

Fill in the blank, "if Thomas didn't write about it...": if "then it's not worth thinking about", -1 point. if "then it's our specific task as moderns to get to the heart of it", +1 point. if "there's stuff Thomas didn't write about? that's crazy, that guy never shut up", 0 points.

Which references do you have more of memorized? if where to find stuff in the Summa (Part, Question, and Article), -1 point. if where to find stuff in Scripture (chapter and verse), +1 point. if you don't know offhand where to find any of the things you vaguely know, 0 points.

Do you read and enjoy novels? if no, -1 point. if yes, +1 point. if only Christian/Catholic novels, 0 points.

Why did Hans Urs von Balthasar die immediately before he could be named a cardinal? if he was slain by Providence because God didn't want him to be a cardinal because of his dangerous ideas, -1 point. if he was slain by Providence because God knew Balthasar didn't want to be a cardinal and was taking pity on him, +1 point. if "wtf are you talking about", 0 points.

Tally up your points.

if you have 5 or more points: you are a Thomist (affectionate)

if you have between -4 and 4 points: you're just chilling

if you have -5 points or less: you are a Thomist (derogatory)

TO BE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR THIS POST IS A JOKE! THE DNI WAS A JOKE! THE WHOLE THING IS A JOKE!

[lemonisherelol]

GRAAHHH OC LORE DUMP

Uzi | Uzenna

Age: 19 (younger sister ik…)

Gender: Demi female (she/they)

Sexuality: Bisexual

Species: Crow

Bio: A crow that had a mother who was in a zoo enclosure, and laid one egg, that being Uzi. Though, the penguins discovered the egg and later on it hatched. They kept Uzi as their little sister. Also Uzi is the emo teenager, she can be rude sometimes. Uzi was separated a few times from her brothers to be with Wyatt.

Trivia’s?

- Uzi is based off a character from Uzi doorman from murder drones, Uzi is also one of my kins >w<

- Uzi is a MLP fan, and so is Private. (So are the other brothers lol), her favorite is princess Luna and maud pie)

- Uzi was named after a gun because Skipper named her that lol

- Uzi likes to mock Classified a lot for mispronouncing penguins, she can be sarcastic!

- Uzi has headphones to listen to music, mainly my chemical romance and MLP songs, and also nightcore music.

- Uzi may or may not have crush feelings for Wyatt. Even though she once jokingly told Eva that she’s good looking.

Next

Agent Wyatt

Age: 20

Gender: Cis male (he/him)

Sexuality: Biromantic

Species: Wolverine

Bio: A Wolverine who works for the north wind, his job was to be at Madagascar where he and his crew mates were ordered to ship over there and help out the animals. Until then being ambushed by Dave, which ended up a disaster…Dave had something in his sleeves to turn one of his crewmates into a vicious beast, and ended up slaughtering them all but Wyatt. This left Wyatt traumatized before he was discovered by Alex and the others.

Trivia’s?

- Wyatt was traumatized from being at Madagascar, even if he would’ve used the ship to drive off, but he was unable to since the engines were broken.

- He is the rookie of the North wind, and also based off of Gadget from sonic forces.

- Wyatt has a messy pelts because he doesn’t clean himself properly.

- Wyatt likes to drink tea instead of coffee.

- Wyatt may or may not have crush feelings for Uzi.

Next one yawn

(TW: Mention of abuse, please be warned.)

-

Agent Balthasar

Age: 32 (same age as Agent Classified)

Gender: Trans man (He/they)

Sexuality: Gay

Species: Melanistic *harp* seal

Bio: A harp seal that once lived in the Arctic life, where he had a normal life or the least to describe it. Until when he was taken away, he was brought to Dave’s lair, but however Dave only took him to make him be friends with one of his "subjects", Doc Yokai. What goes wrong..? Well, Balthasar was afraid of Doc Yokai, because of how he hurt them, giving him those scars, Balthasar felt like a slave, even if Dave has disappeared, Doc Yokai took over to control Balthasar more, abusing him so much, and even used them to get the north wind to walk over his trap. (Will be explained soon) Balthasar met the guy who have saved him, Classified, and though he was scared to go near him, but he admired his blue eyes.

Trivia’s?

- Balthasar is an oc that represents me, which explains about him having a mane. He’s also based off Anya from mouthwashing, and also Ravenpaw from warrior cats.

- Balthasar has stitches on his waist because Doc Yokai cut his small flippers off in order to keep him from crawling off.

- Balthasar sometimes wears feminine clothing even if he’s a male, but he’s more comfortable wearing a tuxedo!

- Ever since Classified and Balthasar started dating, he’d pamper the seal with a lot of loves, like as if Classified has never been affectionate before. Balthasar would definitely lick Classified’s face like a dog, they sometimes bites him too.

- Balthasar is comfortable with the penguins, but however Uzi and Wyatt got him into MLP, this means Balthasar is also MLP fan lol.

- Balthasar and Short fuse interact a lot since Balthasar speaks in his animalistic language, which Short fuse only understands. Also Balthasar is taller than Short fuse.

- Balthasar was taught how to walk on robotic legs from Short fuse, and the others. They all encouraged him. And guess what? He runs funny HEHHA-

- Also Balthasar would definitely be emo if Uzi did makeup on him.

- Balthasar rarely smiles, but he only smiles to those he trusts.

(Part 2?)

[max-reblogger]

Romeo and Juliet - Ships #3

Another rare pairing, let's go!

Lady Montague x Lady Capulet - A lot of these ships, especially the rare pairings are mostly because of the impact from the production of this play that I was in. In the ending of the play the two mothers grieve over the bodies of their children wishing that they could've only been peaceful with each other and refusing to ever go at war with each other again in memory of their children's love. Lady Capulet leaves Lord Capulet because he was abusive and the two Ladies continue to support each other, realising the romantic tension that has been between them from the very beginning. I also like them platonically, btw.

Paris x Juliet - I know this is going to be controversial, but this is pretty similar to my Balthasar x Romeo ship. Like just imagine Juliet didn't kill herself after waking up to find Romeo dead and someone saved Paris' life just in time and the two came together, Paris attempting to comfort Juliet, either he would end the engagement in respect for Juliet and the two would gradually fall in love and become closer because of their interactions due to their similar status the Escalus' keeping peace between Capulets and Montagues. Or they would stay engaged because both of their parents want them to, but Paris would continue to stay respectful of Juliet's boundaries and because of this close proximity and Juliet would realise how good of man Paris really is and would slowly fall in love with him and they would get married and live happily ever after.

Rosaline x Paris - This is a common one, they just work in my head and there's a decent amount of content so I like it.

[cordiibus]

@rootworkin​​ liked for a lyric starter.

       “ be gentle with yourself as you uncover your best kept secrets ...” 

[ashenvoid]

𝔱𝔞𝔤 𝔡𝔯𝔬𝔭 𝔰𝔢𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔶 𝔬𝔠𝔰. 𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔞𝔫, 𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔞 & 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔬𝔱𝔱𝔢.

[accidentalmistress]

Reed's Master Post

Please read my Intro Post before interacting.

My YouTube channel can be found here.

My master post for recordings on Tumblr is here.

My sneezy scientist chatbot Zayne can be found here.

Fic content, including Accidental Mistress, can be found under the cut on this post!

If you like what I do, please consider sending me some support so I can continue to create content for you!

Ko-fi

Accidental Mistress Content

Accidental Mistress is currently On Hiatus until further notice.

Character Profiles:

Noelle Violette and Oraion Leroux

Quinns Shaw

Oliver Dietrich

Mordecai Amadeus Catherwood

Setting Information:

World Overview

Fics:

In chronological order (story, not publication) with the earliest at the top. After each title is a short description of which characters are in it, and what kind of content.

SEASON ONE:

Accidental Mistress (N, Or, - M snz)

Experiment 239-158 (N, Or - M snz)

Enter Knight (N, Or, Q - M snz, SWH)

At the Silver Market (N, Or, Q - M snz, whump)

Stray Cat (Ol, Q - M, N-b snz)

Sugar We're Going Down (N, Or - M snz, NSFW)

Silver Metal (N, Or - M snz)

Dust in the Wind (N, Or, - M snz, F snz)

Catch Me (N, Or - M snz, whump)

Induce or Not? (N, Or - M snz)

Growing Up (N, Or - M snz, giant snz, destructive snz)

Take (N, Or - whump)

Soaked (N, Or - M snz, NSFW)

Cat's in the Cradle (Q, Ol - N-b snz)

Faith, Trust, and... (N, Or - M snz)

Cleaning House (M - M snz)

Library Magic (N, Or - M snz, NSFW)

Nothing Holding Me Back (N, Or - M snz)

One Look (Q, Ol - N-B snz)

Broken (N, Or - M snz, F snz, whump)

This Feeling (N, Or, Q, Ol - F snz, N-B snz, sickfic)

Good Things (N, Or - F snz, M snz, sickfic, NSFW)

Beneath the Mask (N, Or - M snz, non-human snz, sickfic)

Drabbles:

Safe in His Arms (Modern AU)

Handkerchief (not snz)

Playlist:

"Official" Accidental Mistress Playlist

Asks:

Emoji Ask 💬 N&O

Emoji Ask 🪶&💐 N&O

100 Questions N, O, Q, and Me

Emoji Ask 🕰️ N&O

Emoji Ask 📓 N and 🍵 O

EFF OC Inquiry 3 & 4 N&O

EFF OC Inquiry 2 & 9 O

OC Asks 10 & 13

OC Asks 4 & 9

OC Asks 16

Art:

Oraion Sketches

Oraion color piece

Sneezy Oraion

Realistic Concepts

confused-snz Fan Art

Cursebreaker Content

Hachiibun sketch commission

Set in the same world of Vibrahnem, Cursebreaker follows Jakob Steiner, a young Archivist, and his unusual companion Balthasar.

Character profiles:

Jakob and Balthasar

Fics:

To Have a Voice (J, B - M snz)

[licentiousknight]

Penned by Bryan (he/him). 34. EST.

On indefinite hiatus as of September 23, 2022

Rules & Guidelines

All parties (muns and muses) must be of legal age! If you or your muse is under the age of eighteen, please do not interact! If my warning doesn’t dissuade you, I will block you when I become aware of it.

No godmodding. Obviously.

Formatting: I write in small font, and use small gifs or icons in my threads. You don’t need to match my style, so long as you accept that I won’t adjust my preferences.

Effort: I don’t adhere to length-matching. So long as it’s clear you put effort into the reply, I’m happy. I’ll ramble between a paragraph to a full page, if the muse strikes me. But I prefer to hover at paragraphs.

Content: When I say this blog is devoted to taboo subjects, I mean it. Incest, dubcon, monster fucking... I don’t condone what I write IRL, so please don’t ride a high horse into my notifications. Everything will be tagged as “tw [blank]” so it can be filtered for those who still wish to be here.

Activity: While I will check my activity and inbox frequently, I plan on only being available to write one or two days a week. Gotta keep balance in my life and prevent burnout.

I don’t have a banned FC list, but I reserve the right to call someone squicky and refuse to play against them.

Note: At this time, I am not plotting anything romantic. I need some harder smut in my threads, to distract from my life.

Muses

Balthasar Edwin “Bal” Kendrick. early 20s - late 30s. straight male. FC Sebastian Stan

Huojin “Jason” Lin. late 20s - mid 30s. straight male. FC Simu Liu

more to be added

Wanted Plots

Wanted Opposites

Memes

Ship Things

[clanoffelidae]

-pats paws excitedly on table-

Okay so here’s the Good Rosenkreutz AU I’ve never written and probably never will but wanna share anyway.

Cain never went crazy, he didn’t kill Lilith, it was just mutually agreed that the four of them would fake their deaths in that meeting on the ARK. Seth went down to become the Empress, Abel went down to hide around and help the Vatican from the shadows, Cain went down to wander other countries and help where he could, and Lilith stayed on the ARK to monitor the planet below.

Isaak didn’t frame William for the accident, he took the fault himself. He didn’t have anywhere to go or any real capability to go anywhere until he ran into Cain, and decided to come along with him because what other kind of life did he have now?

Dietrich did kill his family, but only out of fear and self-defense. When his father tried to kill him, Dietrich tried to escape as long as he could, but eventually had to kill in order to survive. The rest of his family turned on him, and he was forced to eliminate them as well if he wanted to live. Because he isn’t the ‘evil’ child he was in cannon in this au, he didn’t experiment with his strings as much, and doesn’t have as fine control over them, therefore his actions are entirely happening instinctually and he doesn’t fully understand what’s going on. He’s in shock and too terrified to leave the manor, hiding in the pantry in his own filth and eating what’s in there.

After a week, Cain and Isaak happen upon the manor, and find the frightened child inside. Seeing that he won’t come out, Cain eventually goes in and picks him up, knowing that they need to get him out of there even if he is severely traumatized. Dietrich tries to lash out at him, but Cain being both a fully fused and undamaged Crusnik, is not affected, and Dietrich gives up shortly thereafter, retreating in on himself while they get him out of there.

They set up base in an old castle, fixing it up and converting some part of it into suitable living quarters for themselves and a child. Dietrich rarely leaves the castle after this, but back to that in a minute.

Over time, they slowly acquire more ‘followers’, Helga coming because she’s fallen for Cain, and even if she can’t win him over, she at least wants to be his friend. The Neumann siblings follow Helga as she is an old friend of theirs, and hey, free room and board in a castle! There’s even more room here than at their manor, and plenty far away from civilization too!

Kaspar is loved and accepted for who she is because Rosenkreutz said trans rights. She works as an actor. It started as a hobby but became genuinely profitable after a while.

Melchior works as a robotics specialist and Balthasar often accompanies Kaspar, helping provide musical scoring to the productions.

Helga’s just rich idk

Suzanne just sort of wandered by them randomly, having been going down in a crash landing and winding up a short distance away from the castle, them being her closest place of refuge and she just kinda... stayed. She still injured Kate but it was in an accident. She was blamed for the incident but Kate found records later that show it was accidental, but due to Suzanne’s disappearance, she still hasn’t brought this information to light.

Guderian is adopted into the weird family after being found wandering the nearby forest on his own, he becomes the most attached Dietrich, even more so than Cain and Isaak. This is because in the aftermath of his experiences Dietrich struggles to be around lots of people, even eating dinner with the other Orden members can be too much. However, he never minds Guderian’s company, not when he’s in wolf form. Whenever Dietrich starts panicking he also struggles to speak, which works out well because a wolf doesn’t need to speak, doesn’t want to, he just puts his big head in Dietrich’s lap and cuddles him until he calms down.

Dietrich rarely goes outside, and when he does, it’s never to a city or town. His most frequent haunt are the nearby woods, and Guderian often carries him on his back so he can get the feeling of being free.

In order to allow Dietrich to socialize, Melchior and Isaak work together to create cyborg dolls that are fleshy enough that they can be injured and function like real people, but are just husks. Dietrich controls these with his strings and uses them as a means to go out and interact with people his own age without having to actually leave the castle.

The Orden is still ‘officially’ set on burning and reforming the world, but only in so far as they either set up incidents to seem like tragedies with the use of similar cyborg dolls to fake victims, pay people to disappear so they can be ‘killed’, and actually do interact with real terrorists. However, their reputation is carefully balanced, as all of the real ‘tragedies’ they’ve directly caused have been faked in some form or another, but there are many genuine tragedies they have indirectly been responsible for, such as the incident at Venice.

However, the point of their actions isn’t to truly destroy the world, but to draw the real hardliners are terrorists out of hiding. Radu didn’t die, he just disappeared for a while, and agree to work with Dietrich to draw Suleyman out of hiding and expose his intentions. Similar things go for D’Annunzio, and so on.

Abel and Seth are well aware of their existence, and both Abel and Lilith have visited on occasion. It was wholly coincidence that Abel got assigned to the church Dietrich was visiting with one of his dolls, but they most certainly recognized the other. Afterwards, Cain, Isaak, and Guderian also keep their eyes on Esther, hence running into her so frequently, because not only is she Dietrich’s friend, she’s Abel’s friend, which means she’s basically a part of the family at this point.

Cain and Isaak are 100% Dietrich’s parents and they treat him just like a son.

Helga and Kaspar are the wine aunts.

Balthasar is the gay uncle.

Melchior’s the weird uncle.

Suzanne.

Guderian’s the therapy dog.

Radu is really the first person around his age Dietrich has actually interacted with in person, and their friendship is tenuous, but strong enough that Radu actually volunteered to let Dietrich puppeteer him, trusting him to get him through the situation with the hardliners safely. Or maybe it’s less so friendship and more of just a trusting in his abilities.

I like to think that after the end of the series they keep drawing out the hardliners before faking the Orden being destroyed, only for everyone in it to just casually keep doing what they’ve otherwise been doing because what would the Orden being destroyed have anything to with funny Ms. Neumann and her brother Balthasar who often give free performances for the children, or Suzanne who just literally works as a pilot?

Lilith comes down to witness the signing of the treaty, and she and Abel both head back up to the ARK afterwards, while Cain stays down with his family and Seth with the empire.

[listeninggarden]

People interacting with the sonic installation PHILAE, currently at Balthasar, Brussels, until July 10th 2020. A collaboration of Hugues Loinard and Pauline Miko.

[scribblesnblues]

“No!”

Everyone, including Francine, turned to look up toward the throne. Balthasar was furious. He stormed down the steps of the dais, his leopard matching each step, until he stood over Francine and the unconscious body.

“How dare you,” he snarled. “Who are you, to come into my home and dishonor me? Do you know who I am? Who this family is?”

“Do you know who I am?” Francine retorted.

Her eyes flashed with a fury that previously was restrained, but now swept through the Great Hall like a raging fire, scorching them with its heat. Hushed gasps swept through the crowd. Balthasar noticed it, too, but he was too late. All he could do was cry out as Francine kicked out his legs and held him up by the nape of his neck.

“I have gone through hell these past few months,” she seethed. “I’ve seen the worst people, done the worst of things, all because of this family. But the worst thing that any of you could have done is sit there, in your fancy seats in your fancy clothes, and expect me to kill one of your own. And for what? To honor you?”

“To prove your worth,” Balthasar gasped.

Francine shoved him to his feet. “I have nothing to prove to you,” she said, and for the first time in her life, she meant every word.

So uh remember when I said that Francine is 100% Gryffindor? My mistake lol

Here’s the first moodboard of the gang so far, along with a snippet of an interaction between Francine and Balthasar that’s soon to come. I’m still deciding on who next to work on, so be on the look out for that, too!

[max-reblogger]

Romeo and Juliet - Ships #2

Here we go, part two and we're going to start with another rare pairing because I think that's interesting.

Balthasar x Paris - I know they never interact, but my brain just gets thinking and the actor who was playing Balthasar and I had a really strong (platonic) connection during the production. Paris and Balthasar are both unrequited loves of the play. Paris is in love with Juliet and Balthasar is in love with Romeo. I just think they're calm personalities would make them a very soft pairing and it would be cute for them to come together with their grief about Romeo and Juliet dying for each other, you know, if Paris were to live, instead of die at the end of the play.

Benvolio x Mercutio - I know this is a very popular ship in the fandom and I do ship it, but just not nearly as much as I do many of the other ships. I like it. But the characters just seem a little to similar for my liking. In saying that they have a very sweet friends to lovers dynamic and them being in love with each other while listening to their best friend Romeo talk about his failed love life is funny to me. Many of the bencutio posts on here have caused me to ship it much more than I originally did.

Balthasar x Romeo - Balthasar was in love with Romeo! No one can convince me otherwise and it would be interesting seeing Romeo either finally realise how great Balthasar actually is after Rosaline or Juliet. Like imagine Juliet actually died, but Romeo didn't kill himself and when Balthasar told him he went into a deep depression where Balthasar supported him through everything, keeping him alive and bringing updates to him in Mantua from Verona. And Romeo falls in love with him through this process, becoming himself again, while Balthasar is trying to suppress his feelings to not disadvantage Romeo and when he is finally allowed to go back to Verona, Romeo see just how much Balthasar has grown and confesses and they live happily ever after.

I'm just a silly goose who likes thinking about romance. Lol. Tell me what your ships are in the comments or something. Please. I love interacting with people on here.

[cordiibus]

open to all. / balthasar saved your muse from drowning ! 

      warm hands were gently patting the other’s face as they woke up. not every day that balthasar had to be a lifeguard. always alert just in case something happened and the actual lifeguards just weren’t fast enough. he was lucky to have gotten to them in time -- thinking if it was the waves that had caused them to suddenly go under unexpectedly. “ hey, take it easy...” he spoke, looking them over. “ how you feeling ? ” probably like shit, but he still should ask. 

[mentalcurls]

Martino, the Nativity and 9.5 La Grotta

So I saw @madeforgardens wrote a couple of lovely posts about 9.5 La Grotta and the symbolisms that tie it to Christmas and the Nativity, in particular to Mary and Joseph. I do see the parallels, but the analogy my mind actually went to is another: the three Magi, or Three Wise Men or Three Kings. 

For anyone who might be unfamiliar with these figures, a quick rundown: in the Gospels, Matthew tells of “wise men from the east” who travel to find baby Jesus and pay their respects and bring him gifts. They know of his birth because they saw “his star rise” (usually interpreted literally; it became a comet in the Middle Ages thanks to Giotto) and it supposedly shows them where to go. Because of the star thing, it’s presumed they were actually zoroastrian priests (also because of the word used in the Gospels, μάγοι) and astrologers and they probably came from Persia. Usually, though, they are called kings, cause it’s easier, and tradition has it they’re three (Balthasar, Melchior and Gaspar). Before actually finding Jesus, they wander ‘round Judaea asking people about “the newborn king” and they get stopped by king Herod, who is evil and tries to trick them into telling him where “king” Jesus is so he can kill him. The Magi manage to shrug him off thanks to an angel who warns them Herod is, infact, evil. Then they finally find Jesus.

Just like the Magi, in the clip Martino doesn't know exactly where he's supposed to go, he only knows he’s looking for a family with a child (and how fitting that this modern version of the Holy Family is made up of a man who left his wife and a woman who was raising her son alone and that they live together “in sin”) and he is following the “star” aka Christmas lights (notice that the lights subtly become more and brighter as Martino gets closer to Paola and his dad’s place).

This metaphor also works really well with Adeste Fideles, because the song is an invitation, an exhortation for everybody to go worship Jesus, like the Magi do.

Before the dinner, Martino had discussed with Giovanni whether to bring Paola’s kid a gift, like the Magi brought gold, frankincense and myrrh for Jesus.

When Marti arrives, he finds a mother, a father and their kid just like the Magi find the Holy Family. I think it’s telling that, despite the fact that Marti’s dad and Paola are botting making preparations to welcome Martino to dinner, Paola’s kid seems the one who’s readiest to accept Martino, seeing how he unquestioningly fits his hand to Marti’s on the glass (when I as a child would have screamed bloody murder because a stranger was approaching me kids these days), because in the parallel he represents Jesus, who is God, who is love, so that’s a message, LudoBesse (who said Skam Italia wasn’t talking about religion this season? First the “holy” family, now “Jesus” “accepting” Martino, who is not straight). This is also the first shot in which we see red lights, behind Martino (which imho confirms that interaction is about love).

To further the Magi parallel, Martino even lowers himself to the same level as the child, similar to the way the Magi are often described and pictured kneeling before baby Jesus to honor him.

But then Marti pulls back. In that moment he gets Niccolò’s text. And oh. Martino is not actually supposed to follow the path lit by the “starry” Christmas lights, the sign he’s waiting for is that SMS, instead. That text makes Marti realize he’s not in the right place just like the angel warned the Magi to stay away from Herod, and it is also the “star” he follows to, basically, love, who in his case is Niccolò (while in the Gospels love is Jesus, of course).

At that point, Marti looks back inside (through the glass!) and sees that the kid has both his parents with him and plenty of gifts. The family will be fine without him. So he leaves the warm light he can’t quite get to behind the glass, inside Paola’s house, and goes, follows his sign. The light from the phone, from the text, is blue. He the takes the blue blue bus through a Rome that starts off blue then gets progressively more and more red, to finally get to the completely red school and find Niccolò and love.

[zeal-ascendancy]

After gathering everyone back at the plaza, Marle and Ayla explained how they discovered the strange ship in the sky before going with Robo to see when it first appeared. Robo noted that the ship seemed to be fixed in the sky, never moving an inch no matter how much time had passed and never doing anything.

Robo beeped, “It would appear the ship arrived after we departed with Janus the last time we were in Antiquity. We may want to go back and ask the survivors in the village what they know.”

“But you guys said it’s doing nothing,” Glenn noted. “Maybe we should leave it be… Deal with it if we have to after we get Crono back.”

“Speaking of, now that we have the doll, we need to figure out what we need to do next,” Lucca said, casting a brief glance at the doppl doll that had been set against the fencing. “Gaspar said the one that made the Epoch but…”

“What’s wrong, Lucca?” asked Janus. “We just go ask Balthasar to help.”

“Balthasar’s… he died before he could use the Epoch,” Marle said. “At least that’s what seemed to have happened.”

Marle told Janus about the recordings and how a strange creature told them it had Balthasar’s memories. Janus had a rather indifferent expression on his face as Marle explained everything. When she was done talking, Marle asked, “Are you okay, Janus?”

Janus nodded. He really wasn’t sure how to feel about Balthasar or what had happened to the man. Next to Dalton, Balthasar had been the harshest of his teachers, the one most fixated on ‘curing’ him of his behaviors. Part of him felt glad that Balthasar was gone while another part knew he was supposed to feel sad. He looked towards Marle and said, “So we talk to the Nu then.”

“The what?” Glenn asked.

“The thing you’re talking about… it’s called a Nu,” Janus replied. “We had them around the palace.”

“I seen Nu once!” Ayla added. “Very weird.”

“Ok… So we talk to this Nu-Balthasar… thing,” Glenn said. “Then what?”

“He will know what to do,” Gaspar suddenly said. “The Nu will know what Balthasar knew and instruct you on your next steps.”

“That’s not a lot to go on,” Glenn thought. “But I’m not surprised he’d keep being so vague.”

Marle sighed and said, “We should just go ask then plan what to do once we know more.”

“Since we can only travel in groups of three, perhaps only a few of us should go inquire about the Chrono Trigger,” Robo suggested. “If we need to make haste, then we regroup where we need to go.”

“I’ll go,” Lucca offered. “Janus?”

Janus shook his head. As much as he wanted to be around Lucca, the idea of facing Balthasar, even some echo of him, didn’t sit well with the young prince. He fidgeted with this bracers and mumbled, “I’ll wait here.”

Lucca nodded. After deciding that Robo and Marle would go as well, the three of them departed for Balthasar. Once they were gone, Ayla stretched and said she was going to take a nap.

“Again?” Glenn asked. “Why are you so tired? You haven’t done much here.”

Ayla set up her original clothes in a pile as a pillow and said, “I just tired. Wake me when they get back.”

Glenn shook his head and looked towards Janus. He kind of wished Lucca had stuck around since she seemed to know how to interact with Janus best and Glenn wasn’t fond of small talk. The two of them stood in awkward silence as they waited for Robo and the others to return.

The silence was soon broken by a small voice that Glenn hadn’t heard in a while. A voice that Janus knew well.

“Look, Masa! Lord Janus has Doreen.”

[radicaldreamer017]

Finished chapter 3 and in the middle of chapter 4 (and things are getting spoilery) :

- found a few more heart to heart. It was quite funny to have Tora laments on feeling useless in battle after I benched him. Guess the game does expect you to bench him for the new character.

- I noticed how these scenes are voiced and involve several characters. In XB1, the scenes are silent and involves only two characters bonding. The voice acting is cool but I think they should have kept the two character bonding thing (group stuff is nice too… but so far, Tora has been starring in all of them… i’m afraid the game may push some characters forward more than others in these heart to heart).

- so, met Zeke (it’s Zek in french apparently) and his blade twice. He’s so over the top lol… i saw people comparing him with Bart from Xenogears, but Bart was down to earth next to him (then again, the over the top shonen humor in XB2 is quite new to Xeno… except maybe when it comes to mascot characters). Bart also had a heavy backstory and duty. That said, eye patch thing, trying to snatch your « weapon » upon the first meeting… I can see why comparaisons are made. I’m waiting to see who Zeke is beyond “comic relief guy” though.

- I don’t know if it’s just me but enemies feel quite spongey compared to previous XB games. In the first game, it was quicker and easier to beat a group of enemies. Not so much here (in fact, I’m dying a lot... and chapter 4 is pissing me off a bit because of this... too many enemies ganging up on you, all spongey... the most annoying thing is getting teleported way back and all enemies getting revived). In the first XB game, I was already going against uniques in the first 10 hours. I never bothered to beat a single one in this one and i’m past 30 hours in. Then again, I was battling uniques in XB1 because it was part of the quests and I knew they were giving capacity points too.

- I really like Uraya overall. The town gives me Skyrim (Solitude) vibe coupled with Baten Kaitos maybe (with a touch of Zora village from Breath of the Wild) ?

- speaking of this town… i’m still clueless where their king or queen even is… where’s the palace ?

- i’m starting to understand maybe why people feel frustrated when exploring in this game. It took me way too much time to understand how to get to Uraya’s main town (and I just quit yesterday playing chapter 4 because a piece of bridge fell while i was walking on it and the only path towards the next main story point I can see is blocked by blade skills i don’t have... that said, maybe this bridge will be whole again when I’ll return to the game... otherwise, that would be bullshit). I also understand why it can feel frustrating to have exploration blocked by requirements that are entirely linked to the blades you managed to get based on pure luck. But I can only encourage Monolith to explore player/environment interactions further. Maybe Zelda’s success will make their next Xeno/jrpg game a lot better on this front (I have lots of gripes about the new Zelda sure… but the way we could interact with the environment, using elements and all, wasn’t one of them).

- so far, town music is definitively more memorable/better than in XB1 (Mitsuda composed them, didn’t he ?).

- while I like towns better in this than XB1, i think it really was a mistake to take the social network thing away. It just makes townies a lot less endearing. It takes away the sense of communities the first two Xenoblade games had. It was really one of Xenoblade’s biggest strength imo.

- returning to Argentum made me realize how nice this place is. A callback to the Thames from Xenogears but with warm Ghibli aesthetics too (love the interior in the upper floors).

- the more I play Tiger Tiger, the more I like it... Dunno if it’s because I was craving for some actual mini games in the modern Xeno games (sick of the hunt/fetch routine) or because the mini game is legit nice. But locking Poppi’s entire upgrade system behind a single mini game probably sucks for anyone who hates playing it.

- I can send blades to expeditions now… between this and the pull to get blades system, the game feels very mobile gacha inspired (by the way, got a rainbow in FFBE the same day I got KOS-MOS). Not that the expedition system was invented by mobile games. It was in FF Tactics on PS1 after all. But the way the characters are sent to missions just remind me of FFBE.

- Also, people sure don’t mind giving command of their military force to a kid they just met lol (old person speaking uhuh).

- this theater thing was nice (and very Baten Kaitos looking).

- the last bosses were brutal… even being higher leveled than them… until I just switched Vandham for Tora (well see, perverted furball… you’re more useful than the big guy with the giant bird after all… crazy).

- speaking of them… I find them quite obnoxious. Maybe it’s the Nomura aesthetics… or the fact they kept wrecking my party… I did feel a bit sorry for Akhos (?) in the end though.

- Malos, or the Sephiroth school of villainy… wearing Gaignun Kukai’s face.

- Giant robot flashback… and a bonus Zohar with a pissy Mithra in it. I love how i’m trying to enjoy this game without comparing it too much to its heavy successors story wise… but the game won’t let me. Oh well…

- hi Mythra… it amused me how she went « fuck off ! I didn’t want to wake up ! I’m out ! » just after being introduced. Also, one of her lines was straight out of Xenosaga 3. As a Xenogears fan, her behavior also reminded me of the « coward ».

- Vandham’s death. I did like the character... but not enough to feel much during this scene apparently (losing the wind bird though... rude... but you get it back quickly anyway). People are not going to feel much when a character they just met dies (unless they’re known to have a close bond with the main character from the get go maybe... which is why killing Alice in Xenogears or Fiora in Xenoblade 1 felt more brutal despite happening very early... because they were introduced as the “childhood friend character/love interest/sister”). Especially if the character is a big bulky guy and the death quite cliché for this kind of character.

- also... did... did they bury him in a freaking concrete/stone ground ?

- I only just remembered Poppi broke at the end of the chapter. But she wasn’t that broken, it seems. They really didn’t make a big fuss about it.

- first time in forever since a character shared a bed with his obvious love interest in a Xeno game. But let’s not expect anything mature here. Mythra was just sleepwalking and happened to end up in Rex’s bed. So, yeah... the whole scene was an entire “you stupid pervert” joke you often see in harem animes (with “omg boobs in front of my face” reaction from Rex). That said, this darn hat that Dromach wears is a thing of glory. Highlight of the scene lol... Ah, and they also acknowledge Mythra/Pyra’s clothing being ridiculous in this scene.

- the whole “thievery” plotline was kind of filler. But still, I guess I’m glad those kids have a place to belong now. Guess I can see the Oliver Twist inspiration here (Takahashi said it was one of the works that made him want to make XB2). And now, the bird is back and Rex can have another 5 stars blade (though, I also managed to get Perceval for him, with a common core crystal).

- Speaking of new rare blade, I also got Boreas for Nia. But controlling Nia with him as her main blade kinda sucks. Boreas is so big that he almost takes the whole screen. But he’s a healer. That’s cool. That’s Nia’s main job.

- Muimui... I’m so glad you’re not the playable mascot character (really, even considering Tora). Seriously, this little guy is like... a nopon version of Peter Pettigrew from Harry Potter (maybe it’s appriopriate, he seems shaddy). But higher pitched. And his name sounds kinda dumb, spoken out loud.

- I like Mor Ardain’s city. Reminds me of Nortune from Xenogears (too bad Mor Ardain’s Titan is a brown wasteland though... but hey, it is dying, after all).

- I really liked the cutscene introducing Mor Ardain’s “emperor”. The music was perfect, Morag and Brighid were there, I generally like child emperor/empress (like say, Larsa from FF12)... and I guess Morag is of royal blood now ?

- Tora’s background story unvealed... and I’m sure it was dramatic... but holy shit, I just wanted to laugh when seeing this small nopon holding a huge gun. Tora is like... Maria Balthasar as a male perverted Chuchu. It’s weird. Now, off to retrieve his giant rob... I mean, gothic lolita robot.

- Hot spring naked time... with convenient censor fog. I knew something like this was in ever since the first trailer. Some people managed to spot a keyword for a bath scene or something. Sigh... What should I say ? I like Persona and they did much worse with this kind of stuff. But it’s still pandering. I don’t even remember what the heck the girls were talking about (expect Poppi maybe... something about being waterproof ?).

- Second battle transition against Zeke was kind of funny. Rex gets bitchslapped by Mythra and the screen breaks, FF10 style.